How about a Cup of Coffee?
by serenitysea
Summary: Here's what happens when you have a bad day at work and make the mistake of insulting the man who becomes your boss the next day. Of course, there are BOUND to be a few mishaps. This IS Serena, remember?
1. Prologue: Introductions

Serenity Sea

Serenity Sea 

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

**PG-13**

Prologue 

Author's notes:

This came to me while I was at the beach yesterday, sipping my Caramel Frappachino from Starbucks. I love Starbucks. I love Frappachino. I think I have a caffeine addiction.

DISCLAIMER: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

I'm using dub names because I feel like it. Just as I like to write Rei as Rei, not Raye.

On with the show.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The door swung open again, and Serena Cohen heard her co-worker, Danyelle, sigh beside her. She knew exactly what Dany felt—she was new to the job—and at Starbucks Coffeehouse, life was never dull.

Or at rest.

Serena remembered when she was new to the job—trying to remember the difference between a _Venti traditional_ and a _Grande_ was pretty tough—and that was only plain coffee in different sized cups. Yes, the drink aspect of the job was tough.

A freshman in collage, Danyelle Ricechek was tall, about 5'7, and only 19 years old. But with her medium-brown hair, and teasing brown eyes, she had the smarts. And Serena knew she would make it, unlike the line of blonde bimbos who'd been before her.

Serena, on the other hand, was the total opposite. Very blonde, with highlights nature promised every summer, and deep blue eyes that simply drew you in, she was more than a knockout. She was out of collage; after trying it our with her cousin and best friend, Mina Fuentes, they decided all the studying wasn't for them. Mina had gone on to be a model. 

But that was another story.

Serena was full of life, and had a feisty personality that was hidden by her 'blondeness.' But she was also utterly unaware of the spell she cast over the men that walked through that door in the morning. 

Well, all except one.

Mr. Darien Shields.

While some men came in and bought the over-priced coffee for a sight of her, he had a heart of ice. Not that the fact Serena even _noticed_, for Danyelle's obsession for the 6'2, raven-haired, midnight-blue-eyed man, had become so great that she forced Serena to make the drinks while she took his order.

In about 2 years though, Serena and Darien _would_ meet, and all hell would break loose. And Dany would be powerless to stop the chemistry between her supervisor and her greatest obsession.

***

End Prologue


	2. 1: Spilling Coffee

Serenity Sea

Serenity Sea 

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

**PG-13**

Chapter 1 

Author's notes:

I was stuck in the sweltering sun, writing this. You had better review.

DISCLAIMER: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

REVIEW.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The sun was very bright that day as it beat down on the black leather seats. The man in the black, 3-piece suit was almost sweating. In fact, had it not been for the car's excellent A/C, he probably would have lost some of his- "I've-just-showered-and-smell-damn-good" look.

Most people that led lives remotely like his agreed that he was crazy. Only one thing drove Darien Shields out of bed at 5 AM, to shower and be on the road at quarter of 6.

Black Coffee.

Second only to his passion for women and cars, coffee was his soul, his life force; his core being. It was the only thing that woke up the business fiend inside that he had become.

And as such, being a coffee connoisseur, he knew—from experience—that that only place to get good, decent coffee was Starbucks.

_The only problem with that_, the 24-year old thought, _was the swooning girl at the cash register._

He was pretty used to it, having been a model in what was now his own company for 2 years. There was another Starbucks he frequented, by his office, closer to work, as a matter of fact, but there was this **force** driving him to get to _this_ Starbucks—one he was powerless against—and I'm not talking about the car. 

Of course, being the machoistic man that he was, Darien didn't allow himself to think that anything was out of his hands. So he simply thought he was going to this location because he wanted his coffee and he wanted it _now_.

He absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, gave a deep sigh, and locked his black Porsche.

Then, he stretched and walked towards the door.

***

Serena Cohen had hit the snooze button _one_ too many times this morning, and that was apparent by the way she had **two** near-collisions while driving this morning.

In fact, so oblivious to the world around her, she didn't even notice the one collision she couldn't avoid.

Heading directly for the side door of Starbucks—the one _nobody ever used_—she ran right into another person heading for the same exact entrance.

"Oof."

That someone cushioned her fall, but they landed rather awkwardly on the cement outside of the coffee house; she, sprawled ungracefully on top of him. Hastily, she scrambled off, embarrassed that she was 22 and just had had a 'klutz attack,' muttered a "sorry," and ran inside her work, sparing him not a single glance.

An older man walking into Starbucks at the time had seen the collision; and offered the shell-shocked man a hand.

"Some people will do just about anything for their coffee, eh?" He asked Darien, chuckling.

The businessman glared darkly at the receding form of the blonde and sullenly agreed.

***

Serena jumped over the counter and tied on a green apron.

"Dany?" She yelled over the coffee machines, to her friend.

"Yeah?" The tall girl answered, unfolding from the underside of the counter gracefully, and amazing Serena once more with her Amazon grace. "The machine needed an attitude adjustment." She winked.

Serena paused to smile. "Can you do drinks this morning? I woke up late, and I need my own Frappachino before I can mix **any thing**. Putting me near a coffee maker this morning _would not_ be a good idea."

Danyelle laughed. "Sure. You look a little rushed today, Serena. You sure nothing else's bothering you?"

_What do you mean, besides the fact that I nearly crashed—**twice**__—already this morning? And—oh yeah—I had one of my infamous klutz attacks from junior high just outside the door? Sure, everything's just peachy._

She glared at her noisy friend, who gulped and went back to work.

After serving three of their regular and most understanding customers, and a very nice old man who left a large tip, Serena was just about ready to switch positions with Danyelle.

Turning her back for jut a _second_, she heard, "Excuse me. Miss?"

There was a feral gleam in her eye as she answered the customer through her gritted teeth. "**Yes**, _sir_?" Embarrassment flooded through her as she recognized the man from outside. She hoped he didn't recognize _her_.

If he was intimidated, he didn't show it. With mock cheerfulness that he was certain would annoy her, he told her what he wanted. 

"Venti traditional—black."

She grimaced at the order, but wordlessly rung it up and gave Dany the command. Dany was so lost in her work that she didn't realize who the order was for. The drink was ready as Mina, their other co-worker, took over at the register.

Serena handed the drink to him, making sure the lid wasn't completely secured. "Venti traditional!"

Darien flashed her a grin, but she had turned again, and she still hadn't caught her eye. He _had_ recognized her and wanted to embarrass her slightly for it. "Thanks."

He lifted the drink to his mouth and yelped in surprise as the coffee ran all over his suit and white shirt.

Serena turned, before he could ask for another coffee or complain and asked—"Will that be all, sir?" Then, the wicked gleam returned to her eyes, and triumph danced inside.

Darien finally met her eyes and was shocked. Aside from the victory that was blatantly being displayed, she was one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever seen. And then, a hot liquid distracted him on his chest, so the awe was rapidly replaced with anger.

"No, you dumb blonde—that will not "be all!"" He yelled, starting to attract even more attention. "You didn't put the lid on my coffee correctly, and now I have a board meeting that I'll probably be late for; because it begins in 20 minutes."

She leaned over the counter and motioned for him to come close, as if she was telling him this very dangerous secret.

"Then I guess you'd better… HURRY UP!" Serena yelled, directly into his ear.

Darien, clutching his ear in shock, stalked out the door and got in his car—floored it, and head for his penthouse.

But it was Serena who wore the slightly gleeful; "I-got-you-this-time-mister!" smile as she watched the irate man leave. Turning to Mina, she slapped her a high-five and realized how gratifying the applause from the other customers was.

Only Danyelle remained moodily silent.

"Yo, Ricechek. What's up?" Mina asked, her lips still twitching with barely suppressed laughter.

Serena was back at the register, but cocked an ear to hear what her friend had to say.

"**_That_** was Darien Shields." Danyelle spat.

The blonde at the register was so flustered, that she dropped all the money in her hands and shrieked. 

Mina, recovering gracefully, did a rapid damage control. She carefully handed the nice lady her change, plugged in the next order, and smacked her cousin on the arm.

"Get with it girl! What's gotten into you?"

Serena was visibly shaken when she answered. "All the time Dany was talking about "Mr-Shields-this" and Mr-Shields-that," I never assumed that it was **Darien** Shields. Mina," She grabbed her friend's arm. "Mina, you remember Darien from home—he was awful! Forever teasing me about my grades and constantly torturing me!"

Mina was about to butt in, when Serena held up a hand to silence her.

"And I don't care what you and Andrew think, because Darien _doesn't_ like me! Nobody is **that** heartless."

"Andrew was Darien's _best friend_. Who else would now how to read him??" Mina demanded, in the defense of her caring boyfriend. 

Serena stubbornly shook her head. "And I moved to America to get away from that jerk!" She wailed.

Mina put a comforting hand on her shoulders. "Chill, Sere. I'm sure he didn't even recognize you."

Serena neglected to tell her of the earlier klutz attack—why bother? She hadn't had one in about 4 or 5 years—it was like Darien drew it out in her, or something.

The morning resumed, Danyelle shooting death glares at the two blondes, Serena completely klutzing out, with Mina picking up after her.

***

End Chapter 1.

Wow. Just finished, and it's 1 in the morning. Gotta spell check so all you lovely peeps can read it.


	3. 2: The Proposition

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

PG-13 

Chapter 2 

I was so tired when I typed this up. You had better review.

**DISCLAIMER**: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

***REVIEW***

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Darien arrived at the board meeting 20 minutes late. After having to go home, change his clothes, and call Andrew to tell him he was going to be late, he realized that he _still_ hadn't gotten his coffee.

Rather than suffering the humiliation of going back to that Starbucks, he drove the extra miles and went past his work to one he'd never gone to—and got his coffee.

(Of course, he compulsively checked the lid about 3 times to make sure it was on, but hey, who's counting?)

But when he stumbled into the conference room, something was **still** bothering him about the girl in Starbucks. He felt as though he had known her from somewhere. She reminded him of Mina Fuentes, Andrew's girlfriend from home that he was always talking about.

_Where did he know her from?_

The meeting dragged on and on as he cast about for a memory of one that fit the girl's description so well.

He knew he _knew_ her—he just didn't know from where.

Still not paying attention, the board meeting director, Mr. Dior, asked if they had any nominations for new models.

And it was then that Darien finally remembered who she was.

Jumping up, "Serena Cohen!" He yelled triumphantly.

With raised brows, the directors nodded and looked back at the victorious man. "And why do you think she should be nominated, Mr. Shields?" He spoke respectfully to the 24-year-old because he _was_ the CEO of Shields Modeling and Co.

But Darien, dear readers, was still off in his thoughts: "Of course. With that long, sun-blonde hair, those deep blue eyes, and those teasing lips, who else could she be?"

The board hardly looked surprised at the graphic description, all except Andrew—who knew Serena personally because of Mina—and waited for him to go on.

"And of course those long legs that always got her in those 'klutz attacks'."

Now the board was confused. Long legs were good for their models—but 'klutz attacks'? What were they good for? Oh well. He _was_ the CEO. If he wanted her, he'd get her.

Mr. Dior, getting in the spirit, jumped up as well. "We'll get right on it, Darien."

That snapped Darien out of his walk—no, **run**—down Memory Lane.

"What?" He asked, snapping to attention, albeit a little late.

Mr. Dior just winked, knowing that the young man was slightly embarrassed at his graphic description of Ms. Cohen. "Don't you worry, sir—we're already on it."

As everyone filed out of the conference room, Andrew walked up to his friend. "Do you have any idea what you just got yourself into?"

Darien sat back in her leather chair and put his head in his hands. "Oh man. This **has** to be some sort of cosmic joke, right?"

Andrew rolled his green eyes and started to chuckle. "You are in SO over your head."

***

Around 3, Serena got off her shift and waited another half-hour for Mina to punch out. Danyelle was staying the entire day—she wanted to keep her mind off the fact that Darien Shields would probably never set foot in this Starbucks again.

So the cousins left their friend there, climbed in their cars and drove to the apartment they shared.

A fond glance was shared as they looked at the mess.

Clothing was strewn around everywhere, as a result of Mina becoming a full-time model in Andrew's company. (There was someone who backed the company, but Andrew never mentioned it, and despite all of Mina's efforts to get it out of him, they couldn't find out who it was.) Half clean dishes peeked out of the completely full sink and paper plates lay on every surface in their living room.

It was a modest apartment, one they were glad to have, but even they realized when too much mess was too much mess.

Laughing nervously, Serena asked Mina, "I guess we should have cleaned up after the party last night, huh?"

Mina's cheerful reply was a flop on the couch. "Working at Starbucks is so…hard."

Serena smiled. Andrew had given Mina the month off for her to relax before they went to Milan, for a HUGE show that could skyrocket the company's sales. Compared to where everyone catered to your every need, Serena supposed that it was quite a change to where you catered to someone else's needs.

They had waitressed in their brief try at collage, but neither liked it. Serena much preferred specializing in one area, and perfecting that. 

Mina just wanted to be worshipped by millions.

In the end, they both got what they wanted, and both blondes were happy. Sitting next to Mina on the couch, looking at the full mirror across from them, Serena was struck, as always, by how much they looked alike. When they were younger, littler kids, she had always brushed it off, but now—there was no denying it—the resemblance was uncanny.

Sure, Mina's hair and eyes were a few shades lighter than her own, but other than n inch or two, Serena realized why everyone always remarked on it.

_If Mina's a model, does that mean that I could ever be one…?_

She pulled out a pizza crust that had somehow gotten in Mina's hair. "We really need to clean this up, Meens."

Mina softened at the childhood nickname. "Ew." She grabbed a piece of pepperoni off of the front of her hand. "You're right—this is gross."

They got up, turned on some music and started to clean.

…

After about 5 minutes, Mina got restless and threw an apple core at Serena. Serena reacted and threw it back. Mina was about to fling a paper plate at her, Frisbee style, but the doorbell rang. Their eyes met and Serena realized that she was more presentable of the two.

She was puzzled, but when to answer the door, anyway. When she opened it and saw the courier, Scot, from Mina's job, she was about to call her, but he placed a hand on her arm.

"Serena Cohen?" Scot inquired.

She was stumped and wary. "Yesssss?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god. You wouldn't believe where I've been trying to track you down. One broad actually threw a cup of coffee at me! —And it was hot!"

_Well, that would explain the brown spot all over his white shirt_, she thought, distracted. And then she smiled. Good old Dany. She sure knew how to pick 'em.

"Can I help you?" She finally asked, knowing that she was scaring the poor man with her distracted smiling.

Scot handed her a big, tan envelope. "Er—yes. This is for you. You have to be there tomorrow at 6:00 sharp."

Still shocked as to what could be in the manila envelope, she asked horrified, "In the morning??"

He smiled. "Yup. Boss's orders. Don't know why you have to be there before everybody else, but I 'spose even the boss has his reasons."

"Boss? Mr. Tel?"

He shook his head.

"Oh." Serena realized that this was the name of the person they had been trying to find out. "Well, she is it?" Usually, if you gave out false information, people jumped to correct you. She assumed it was a man. Only one way to find out.

Scot paused in his walk down the carpeted hallway. "**He**—miss—_he_ doesn't wish to let you know until tomorrow." With a respectful tap on his hat, he entered the elevator, leaving a very dazed Serena standing in the doorway of her apartment.

***

Mina, who had been on the phone with Andrew, knew exactly what was in the envelope and almost bear-hugged Serena. But she walked out of her heavily furnished room and played dumb.

"So who was that?"

"That was Scot, from your work." She walked in, clutching the envelope, looking confused.

"What's _that_?" Mina asked, pointing to the envelope, knowing exactly what it was.

Slowly, Serena pulled the flap off the large envelope and pulled out a sheaf of paper that had a yellow sticky note attached; obviously handwritten.

_Serena—_

_ The boss recommended that you become one of our newest models. The Board of Directors agreed. So you're in. See you tomorrow at 6—I'll be in after you meet the boss. Send my love to Mina… oh, and welcome to the company._

_ --Andrew_

Shocked, Serena handed the packed to Mina—who didn't even bother to read it because she already knew what was in it—screamed loudly and started to jump up and down.

"This is SO cool!" She yelled.

Serena numbly agreed, and let Mina drag her out to the mall to celebrate. She was flattered that the 'Boss'' had chosen her, but bothered by the fact that they just assumed she'd accept.

After picking out and buying a new outfit to wear tomorrow—Mina's treat—she lay in her bad, thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

**_She_**_ was going to be a model_.

***

end chapter 2

Yay! There's hope for models everywhere!


	4. 3: Signing her soul to the Devil

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

**PG-13**

Chapter 3 

I was sick when I typed this up. You had better review.

**DISCLAIMER**: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

**DISTRIBUTION**: I would be more than happy (and willing) to let anyone who wants to put this on their site. Just send me a quick email to let me know where it's going, and then post away. Because of the interesting situation I'm in at home, I cannot send you the chapters. Just do a cut and paste thing—hopefully everything that's formatted the way it is will stay that way.

I can't tell you how excited I was to see 30 reviews on this story before I went to bed last night. I was so happy, I couldn't fall asleep. And today, which was a Monday (and who doesn't hate Mondays??) was so much better because of all the reviews.

This is such a one-time deal right here. I NEVER put out chapters right after another—usually because I have no time. But I was so pleased with the results that I raced to get this one. (And I had my caramel macchito this morning… yummy!) I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes.

(You're all going to kill me when you get to the end of this one.)

So keep up the reviews and hang in there!

***REVIEW***

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Setting her alarm clock for 5 AM had proved to be a wise decision. After showering and dressing in the powder blue suit Mina had selected, she had just enough time to grab a caramel Frappachino at Starbucks. 

Last night, before going to bed, she had called her old boss, Alison McReigh, and told her the situation. Alison, Danyelle's older cousin, had been very understanding—and although sad to see her best employee go—told her good luck and that her morning Frappachino was on the house.

Sipping the icy drink, she expertly maneuvered her little Honda Civic into a parking spot in the visitor's lot. While she preferred flats, she could walk rather well in platforms and high heels—something she realized would probably come in handy if she accepted the job.

_What do you mean, _accepted_? If _course_ you're accepting the job!!_

***

Darien had foregone his ritual at Starbucks that morning and had had his assistant, Rei, pick it up instead. Now, as he sipped the expertly ordered caffeine—for Rei was one for details—he smiled.

Revenge would be sweet.

***

Rei Kensington didn't take any crap from her boss. And since she let him know that, Darien had been pretty amiable. 

But when he ordered her to get his coffee, she was surprised. He _never_ let anyone else get his coffee but himself; for fear that someone would "screw it up." (He had been late on several occasions for that very reason.)

And since he practically lived on the stuff, that was something _everyone_ wanted to avoid.

She did what he asked and got the coffee, not quite smiling when she gave it to him.

But he had a distracted smile on his face and she doubted he even noticed, anyway.

She continued typing in the chosen models' itineraries to Milan, confused when she came across a particular one. Dismissing it immediately after reading Mr. Tel's attached note, she worked on silently until someone knocked on the glass doors in front of her.

_That must be the new model_.

***

When Serena walked into the modeling building, she was buzzed straight up to the 51st floor. There, she knocked on 2 huge frosted glass doors and smiled when they opened.

Sitting at a desk was a pretty woman with very long black hair and violet eyes, typing furiously. She looked up at Serena and smiled warmly.

Serena immediately felt at ease. "Are you the boss?"

The woman laughed and stuck her hand out. "No—Rei Kensington's the name. The boss, " she paused, looking at the ominous set of black doors behind her. "The boss is another thing entirely. As you soon shall learn."

She flicked a button effortlessly and the doors opened slightly while she motioned Serena in.

"Oh, Serena?" Rei called from the desk. She found a form and a pen. "You need to sign this form. It's a 6-month contract. (AN: Anyone getting chills here??) After that time, you can re-sign on or leave. You're just obligated to do this before you see the boss—it makes it permanent."

The blonde looked confused, but crossed over to the desk and quickly filled out the form in its entirety. She hesitated slightly while er hand hovered over the signature line. Rei flashed her an encouraging smile and she signed quickly.

_Why do I feel like I just made a pact with the Devil_, she wondered quietly.

"The boss will see you now…"

***

Serena was annoyed. He could sense it, sure as the sky was blue and the grass—in most places—was green. When she walked in, he wanted his back to her, so he faced his large revolving chair towards the incredible view outside.

She obviously didn't see him in the leather-backed chair, for she started muttering.

"Some '**boss**' he is. Can't even show up on time. First time in my entire life that I'm early and he—"

"—Wanted to be there to see it." Darien cut her off, slowly turning around in his chair. "Hello, Meatball Head."

***

I KNOW!! I KNOW! You all hate me. I'm soooooo sorry. Really I am.

(It was short, too, wasn't it? Easier on my fingers.)

Just to take your minds off the wait that will most likely ensue: What would you think of me adding some lyrics from a song into one of the later chapters. It's just that the song fits so well and… well here's the thing. I read this really great story, but the author WRECKED IT by putting in a song where there was no need for one. It was just such an eloquent piece of writing… ANYWAYZ… so if you think it would be really bad or really great just put it in your reviews. I really want to add it in.

Are you all better now? Did that take your minds off of the horrible cliffhanger? I HAD TO DO IT!!


	5. 4: The Meeting

Serenity Sea 

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

**PG-13**

Chapter 4 

**DISCLAIMER**: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

**DISTRIBUTION**: I would be more than happy (and willing) to let anyone who wants to put this on their site. Just send me a quick email to let me know where it's going, and then post away. Because of the interesting situation I'm in at home, I cannot send you the chapters. Just do a cut and paste thing—hopefully everything that's formatted the way it is will stay that way.

Keep up the reviews and hang in there!

FINALLY!! THE Serena AND Darien INTERACTION WE'VE ALL BEEN DYING FOR!! 

***REVIEW***

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Serena reached blindly for her Frappachino. She took a sip and swallowed it, letting it soothe her raw nerves.

"Hello, you insufferable jerk." (AN: Go Serena!)

Darien's blue eyes twinkled and he smiled. "Now is that any way to greet an old friend?"

She snorted. "Yeah, Darien—you were really my friend—you teased and tortured me more than all the bullies in the world combined. Excuse me, but I don't exactly categorize you as a friend—or even REMOTELY close!"

For some reason, having the beautiful girl—no, woman—before him, trading insults with him better than she ever had before, Darien was overwhelmed with the strangest feeling.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, his turned his attention to the situation at present. The blonde was sitting down now, had whipped out her cellular, and was in the process of dialing a number rapidly. There was a pause while she waited for who ever it was on the other end to pick up and when they did, and unknown expression of relief covered her face. (He wondered who it was that she put such faith in to get her out of the mess she'd made now.)

"Hello—Meens? Yeah—it's me…no, no, I got my coffee…Oh, I sound upset? Gee, maybe it's because I found out the 'boss' turned out to be—NO! Would you just shush up and listen, for the love of god?!!" 

Serena was ignoring Darien and gritting her teeth. She grabbed a hand and ran it up the front of her 'bun.' "Fine…fine…ok, ok…6? Yeah, I got it. Ok. Parkside at 6…see you then…ok…I'll try…bye."

Serena pressed her fingers to her temples and sighed. As if remembering she had and audience, she opened her eyes to see Darien staring amusedly at her.

"Trouble with the underlings, Ms. Cohen?'

_So now we're back to last names, huh?_ She glared. "That was actually, Mina Fuentes, one of your models and Andrew's girlfriend."

"Oh yes—Mina. Andrew' head over heels for her."

_Well at least_ something's_ going right._

"Look, about that paper Ms. Hino had me sign—"

"—Rei," he interrupted smoothly.

She glared at him again. "Yes—_Rei_—is there any way we can dissolve that? Because you must know how unpleasant this is going to be for both of us."

Darien gave her a contemplative look and Serena thought that he was actually considering her suggestion. 

But he _had_ to go open his mouth.

Grinning widely, "absolutely," she held her breath; "Not. That's a heinous idea, Ms. Cohen."

The man was infuriating! He was pretending that the past several moments between them had never happened!

Serena gritted her teeth, grabbed her handbag and drink, and spun on her heel so fast that the modest slit on the side of her thigh tripled to that of VERY dangerous territory.

Darien gripped the underside of his desk suddenly and forced his eyes to avert—something that didn't escape Serena.

She must have been possessed by the devil himself, because there was no way _she_ would have done what she did next. Serena turned to him with a wicked smile on her face and said, "What's a matter, Mr. Shields? Can't deal with the sight of a little leg? Tsk, tsk. What kind of a CEO are you?"

She picked up shifted her bag and drink to her left hand, blew him a kiss, and walked out of his office.

***

When she heard the sound of stalking stilettos, she knew. 

Rei quickly jumped up from her desk and walked to intercept the woman. She was totally prepared for her to be angry. About what, she didn't currently know, but sensed some sort of dangerous aura around her.

(AN: Just b/c she's not Sailormars doesn't mean she can't have increased senses.)

But what she wasn't prepared for was to see Serena Cohen flying out of Darien's office with a scowl on her face that would have made Queen Beryl scared.

_Queen Beryl? Where did _that_ come from?_

Nor was she prepared to see the new slit—er—_alteration_ in her skirt, or to see strands of her shining blond hair escaping the confining bun.

Truth be told, she was rather intimidating, even to Rei, and she was _this_ close to leaving the company forever. It would be Rei's job to save her.

Rei sidled up to Serena and matched her pace without difficulty—walking in high heels had never been a problem for her, for some reason—but before she could speak, Serena held up a hand and stopped so short that Rei had to jog back to her.

"Ms. Hino—_Rei_. I am going to get in that elevator, and walk out those impressive double doors below, and try to forget that this meeting **ever** happened. This entire **morning**, in fact." She took a breath and looked Rei in the eye.

"Darien Shields is a chauvinistic, male-egotistical, **jerk** of a man. And he's your boss. And I feel sorry for you."

Rei prudently refrained from pointing out to her that, as of 35 minutes ago, he was _her_ boss, too.

"So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I am going to take a piece of paper and grab that pen behind your ear," she reached for the pen, "and write down my address and phone number. I want you to come there tonight. We are going to have a party and you are going to dish to me everything you know about that man and his company."

When she finished speaking, she handed Rei the paper she'd jotted down her numbers on and the other woman realized that Serena was flushed. Over what—she didn't know—but flushed—and her eyes were snapping with blue fire. The only other person who she'd seen do that before was…Darien. …**anyway**…

"Right. Um, could you just stand there for a minute?"

Serena stood impatiently, tapping her foot against the plush carpeting and waited for Rei to do whatever she was going to do.

Rei whipped a camera out from her desk drawer and snapped 3 pictures.

"What was _that_ for?" Serena asked.

She made an airy gesture. "Oh—some shots for your ID. Nothing special."

"7 o clock, Rei. Don't be late—or you'll be sorry."

***

End chapter 4

Author's notes:

Better? Are you happy now? I just don't know what's with me and these chapters. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Reviewing makes me proud and makes me want to put out more chapters.

NOBODY ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT THE SONG IN THE STORY!!! ANSWER IT OR NO MORE CHAPTERS FOR 3 MONTHS!


	6. 5: White Lies

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 5 

*

**DISCLAIMER**: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

**DISTRIBUTION**: I would be more than happy (and willing) to let anyone who wants to put this on their site. Just send me a quick email to let me know where it's going, and then post away. Because of the interesting situation I'm in at home, I cannot send you the chapters. Just do a cut and paste thing—hopefully everything that's formatted the way it is will stay that way.

Some of you may have thought that Serena was being excessively angry with Mina in the last chapter. I didn't mean for her to come across that way—but I'm sure you can all remember a time when you were angry, _really_ angry. Thinking rationally isn't really an option and whatever flies out of your mouth goes. Same for our favorite little blonde. 

This chapter is short—but chapter 6 will be posted, too, so you can all hate me later. The song was a tie and I decided to put it in anyway. It just fit. If you want speedy chapters, review like you all know you should. That little shoulder angel is there for a reason, you know…

***REVIEW***

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

_"If you gave me just a coin for every time we said goodbye. Well I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams, I'm sorry for my weary life. I know I'm not perfect, but I can smile—and I hope that you see this heart behind my tired eyes…_"

Serena's voice blended with the musician's perfectly. As the music cascaded out of her car stereo, she had set about driving to the nearest Starbucks. She needed coffee and then she was going shopping. 

**All day**.

As usual, the irony of the song fit Serena's situation more than she cared to recognize. Mina would ask her why she let him have this power over her. _But that wasn't it_, Serena thought, shaking her head. There was no power. Only hatred—he hated her for some reason that she couldn't define. And what had possessed her to act the way she did this morning?? She _must_ have been taken over by some spawn. She _never_ acted like that.

Serena chalked it up to nerves and brushed the matter aside. She ran into her 'native' Starbucks and let her day begin.

***

The security guard had to hide a smile when Darien had been caught so easily. _This Ms. Cohen had said that he was watching them on TV somewhere and she was _right. That only infuriated him more.

Ducking out of the grinning guard's office, Darien took the elevator up to his floor and met Rei at her desk. He waited patiently for her to stop typing. When she didn't look up, he was about to speak, but she did first.

"What's wrong, Darien? —Your coffee's too cold? Well **tough**—I have work to do and I can't be bothered with your picky tastes."

He scowled. Serena seemed to be rubbing off on _everyone_. Still, he forced his tone to be pleasant, hoping it would cause Rei to 'simmer down.'

"No, my coffee was perfect, thank you. I was just wondering what was on the piece of paper Ms. Cohen handed you."

Rei still didn't look up at him, nor did she acknowledge the fact that he _had_ been watching them on security cameras; in fact, he was beginning to wonder if she had even heard him. 

"Her address and phone number." 

He started to rock back and forth on his heels. _He was such a little kid when he wanted something_, Rei thought.

"—To put into the systems database, Darien." She lied, exasperated at having to explain. "To go with the newly scanned pictures of her."

"Pic—pictures?"

Finally, she looked up, a no-nonsense frown on her face. "_Mr. Shields_, I've got work to do. In fact, I've got a ton, and I **am not** working overtime to complete it tonight. So if you would be so kind to let me _do_ that work, the company would be a much better place." She waved. "**Buh**-bye now."

Darien shook his head in disbelief and headed towards his office. Rei's behavior had caught him off guard. Sure, she had always had that spunk, but she didn't worry about overtime—and she _never_ talked to him like that. Strange.

He opened one of his office doors to see Andrew sitting at his desk. "Drew, get out of my chair."

Andrew grinned. "Oh yeah—sure Darien." His smiled faded. "Just as soon as you tell me what the **hell** happened this morning."

***

"I'm telling you Dany—Darien Shields is not what he's cracked up to be. He is such a rude jerk."

Danyelle, somewhat mollified that Serena was dishing the 'dish' on her crush, was reluctant to agree. But Serena got along with _everyone_ and if he really acted the way she said he had—well—he was a jerk.

"Ok, Serena, but I still think he's cute."

The blonde grimaced. "Each to her own, I guess. I prefer the tall, dark, handsome type myself.

Danyelle's brown eyes twinkled. "Darien is tall, dark and—"

"Ugly." Serena mumbled. "Oh no! I totally forgot—I have to call Mina!" She whipped out her phone and punched in Mina's number.

"Meens? Oh hey—glad I caught you—change of plans for tonight. Yeah, well, I'm having a few people over," she glanced at Danyelle, who was working the register. "…What? Oh. Around 7. Uh huh. No, she's really nice. Yeah. I'm gonna try and wrangle in a few more. …Yep. Definitely. Hold on. Let me ask her now."

She put a hand over the phone and shouted over to Dany. "Wanna come over for a party tonight?"

Danyelle looked up from the latte she was making, and nodded, a smile on her face.

Serena went back to the phone. "Yeah. She's in."

*** 

"Nothing. We just rubbed each other the wrong way. Chill, ok?" He blushed slightly, thinking of her legs and how they'd been encased into the powder blue suit that wasn't really her style.

Andrew glowered. "No—I will not **chill**. I want to know why my girlfriend calls me up—in tears, no less—to tell me that her best friend's boss is a jerk and that she wants to quit already. If I have to, I'll shift Serena over to my half of the company, Darien."

_Have her over on Andrew's side? Never ever see her, except at charity dinners? _No _way._ "I'll take care of it." He hastily amended. "I'll figure something out." He kneaded his temples gently and sighed.

Andrew drained the last of his coffee and stood up. He brushed some lint off of his suit and walked around the desk. "You do that."

Darien threw himself on into his chair, automatically pulling up Serena's file on the computer. "Dear god, what have I gotten myself into?"

***

The song I used is Dido's _No Angel_.


	7. 6: Hi, Lita

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 6 

*

Serena's small hand grabbed at the grande vanilla cappuccino, and she expertly plucked a cardboard sleeve from the dispenser, while lifting her drink and placing it inside. 

"Thanks Dany—I gotta go—see if I can get this Darien Shields jerk outta my mind." She walked out of the elitist coffee shop, unaware that several people who she now worked for were staring after her; and one green-eyed woman after grabbing her own coffee, was watching her extra closely.

***

By the time Serena got to the mall, it was 8:30.

"I need new clothes. I need to get a whole new wardrobe, but who am I kidding—I could never afford that. So a new outfit will just have to do."

So Serena headed straight for her favorite store; H & M. She wanted 'out' of the prim power-blue suit. She felt wild and crazy today and was going to dress the part. Because, for once in her life, she had stood up to someone. She told someone else—a friend—what to do; instead of being _told_ what to do.

And damn, but it felt _good_.

So Serena Cohen bought her first pair of leather pants. (_Real_ leather, because pleather was too tacky.) And they fit her like a second skin—but not so tight that it was trashy.

The next part to her outfit was a sleeveless black shirt with ripped shoulders and the outline of a flame in blue rhinestones. It reveled her midriff—something she hadn't done since she was a teenager—and she wore a silver belly chain to complete the look.

Because her hair was so thick and wet this morning when she put it up in that constrictive bun—it was damp enough to style the way she wanted; taking it out and scrunching it between her hands—forming loose waves.

She looked about 18—and quite a stunning 18-year-old at that.

Serena, both pleased and uncertain about her new look, stepped out of the dressing room and collided with another person. (AN: It's not who you think! Honest!)

"Oh—I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be—I'm the one who should be sorry—I walked right into you!" Exclaimed a feminine voice.

Serena got up from the floor and got a good look at the woman who she'd collided with. 

She had an 'Amazon' look about her—tall, 5'9 or so, long brown hair that was barely restrained in a glittery green rose ponytail holder—to match the color of her emerald green eyes. She was _striking_. And she looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey. Didn't I see you this morning in Starbucks?"

The brunette closed her eyes, deep in thought, and opened them again to look back at Serena, recognition dawning on her face. "That's right! You were the one with the friend at the register—wait a minute. You're the new model in the company, aren't you?" 

Serena looked at her dumbly. "Run that by me again?"

She laughed and stuck out her hand. "I'm Lita McCloud, and I work as a model at Shields & Tel Modeling Co.—and as of this morning, so do you." Lita glanced at the look on Serena's face and added, "Rei called me this morning with the news."

"Rei? You know Rei?"

Lita gave her strange look. "Yeaaah… She's the Secretary to Mr. Shields and one of my close friends."

Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I thought you were one of those really snobby models."

"No—but we have a few of those." Lit smiled ruefully, reminiscing. "But what's your beef with Darien? He's really nice—unless he doesn't have his coffee."

The blonde smiled wickedly. "And if he does get it—and it spills all over him—boy, he brings new meaning to the term 'hopping mad'." 

Lita held up her free hand, while depositing the clothes she wasn't taking over to the dressing room monitor. "I don't think I even wanna know. That little smirk on your face tells me all I need to know. You brought him down a few pegs, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. What happened was—well hey! Why don't you just come on over tonight with the other girls and we'll rehash the whole even there. Mina saw the whole thing, and it always helps to have a back-up storyteller."

Lita hesitated. She knew Mina, and Serena seemed nice enough, but what if the rest of her friends were whack-jobs? 

"Rei's coming too…" She said in a singsong voice.

"Ok. I know when I'm beaten. What time and what should I bring?"

She clapped, pleased that she recruited another person. This party was going to **rock**. "Around 7. And you don't have to bring anything—but if you really want to, pick up something to eat."

Lita grinned. "Good. I'll whip something up."

Serena, who was an _awful_ cook—couldn't imagine anyone who _liked_ cooking, and cooked **well**, was shocked. "Oh no! You don't have to do that!"

"It's ok," Lita assured her. "Really. I love to cook, but I never have the time. Now I have an excuse to get re-acquainted with my kitchen."

"Well, ok." Serena still looked doubtful. "So I'll see you at 7? —I gotta pay for these clothes and get outta here."

"7 it is."

***

Andrew could barely keep the grin off his face long enough to walk out of Darien's office. If Darien had any idea what he and Mina were up to, there would be hell to pay and butt to kiss.

But he didn't.

In fact, he was so tied up with Serena, and any thoughts revolving around her, he didn't have time to be focused elsewhere.

Which was actually a good thing. Because with the stunt he and Mina were planning…well, it was just better for Darien to not notice until it was too late.

He rubbed his hands gleefully and walked into his office. He picked up his phone as he sat down and hit the first speedial button on the left. 

"Mina? Good news. It's time to put phases 2 and 3 into action…"

***

***Author's Notes* **

AWWW! Matchmakers seems like Andrew and Mina have their work cut out for them. I decided to split this chapter up because it was better not crammed into one thing. Plus it's more fun. 

It's around this time that I had stopped writing the next chapter because I was at a crossroads with the scene and didn't know which way I wanted it to turn. Now, thankfully, I do, so you can expect chapter 7 out sometime in the next 2 weeks or so.

Ok, this is major to my other story and since this story seems to be getting the publicity and I trust you guys as my treasured readers, please answer the question. The threat of no chapters still stands.

Who would you rather see the inners with and why? The generals (Jaedite, Zoicyte, Nephrite, Kunzite) or the guys? (Chad, Andrew, Greg, Ken.) 

The plot is in your hands… choose wisely.

And I think, from now on, I'm going to put the author's notes at the end—you guys never read them in the beginning anyway—you're to excited to read the story. And now I have to go check on a chicken that's in the oven, so if you would excuse me…

REVIEWS ARE GOLD!!! 

**DISCLAIMER**: I own only the characters that you've never heard of. Danyelle and Alison belong to me. The obvious people do not. I don't own Starbucks or any of the drinks, but if anyone wants to give me a lifetime supply of Frap's, I'd be more than willing to accept.

**DISTRIBUTION**: I would be more than happy (and willing) to let anyone who wants to put this on their site. Just send me a quick email to let me know where it's going, and do a cut and paste thing—hopefully everything that's formatted the way it is will stay that way.

If anyone thought that Rei was being harsh on Darien, I'm sorry. That's just the way I saw that scene happening.

Also, this chapter was more form than function—it introduced another character and let us get to know Serena a little more and what she's capable of.


	8. 7: Rei's Revenge

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 7 

*

Serena dropped the bags on the floor with a thud. She had just walked up the stairs to her floor, thinking the exercise would do her good.

14 floors later, and a hell of a lot more tired; she had arrived at the door. Getting all her purchases inside was the last straw. She left them on the floor next to the door and kicked it closed with some kickboxing move. It was all she could do to make it to the couch.

There was a rustle of paper and she wearily opened her eyes to see Mina slouched comfortably on the opposite couch, reading this month's Cosmo. Before she could stop it, an aggravated groan escaped her lips and she screwed her eyes shut.

"What's wrong?"

Serena had to remind herself to count to 10. _1…2…3…_ "Did you or did you not just hear me struggling to get inside the door?"

Mina looked up from the quiz she was taking. "It says here that Andrew and I are completely compatible… You looked like you were handling it quite well by yourself. If you needed my help, you could have just asked, silly."

_4…5…6…7…_ "Yes—but I didn't know you were home. I didn't see you."

"Oh. Well, that's your fault." She said airily.

_8… 9…_ "Ok, that's fair. Well, it's about 5:30 and I'm gonna go take a nap before everyone gets here, ok?" She looked at Mina, who was deeply engrossed in her magazine. "Right."

Serena mustered her strength and made the journey over to her room. Her hand was on the knob and she was about to step inside when Mina asked, "What did you buy? You don't mind if I go through the bags, right?"

_10…_ She slammed the door, threw herself on the bed and screamed loudly into the pillows.

Mina was unable to keep the fit of laugher from escaping her lips. She let it fly and waited for the consequences. But Serena didn't come out and Mina wondered if she really _was_ ready for phase 2 or 3.

***

Around 7 o clock, there was a knock on the door. Since Serena was still holed up in her room, Mina took it upon herself to answer it. 

"Ok, ok, I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses!"

The knock was starting its second appearance when she finally made it over there.

She yanked open the door with all the strength in her body and Lita—the first person to arrive—grabbed her arm tightly to make sure she didn't fly through the wall.

"Whoa! Are you ok?"

Mina looked at her savior. "I am now—thanks Leets."

The brunette rolled her eyes and drew another person out from behind her. She was a bit shorter than Mina, and _a lot_ shorter than Lita, but still had a nice way about her. 

The blue-haired woman stuck her free hand out towards Mina. "Hello. I'm Ami." (AN: YAY! Ami's finally joined the crew!) She had a faintly British accent and that jarred something in Mina's memory.

The blonde looked extra close at her. "Hey! Haven't I seen you before? Do you work for the company, too?"

Ami smiled, transforming her features dramatically. "Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. I'm with my fiancé, Greg, in advertising. I remember seeing you at the last corporate party we had at Darien's penthouse."

"Oh yeah! That's right!" They moved awkwardly out of the door and Mina slapped her forehead. "What kind of host am I? Come on in, make yourselves comfortable—food goes in the kitchen."

Lita looked inside the apartment, and around the corner. "Is Serena here?"

"Yeah… she came home and crashed in her room after she was done shopping. She's probably up and getting ready now."

***

Wrong.   
  
Serena, dear readers, was still sleeping. 

Sleeping off the horrendous morning she had, dreaming of a prince who would come and take her away, never once realizing that all the guests were waiting for her.

She turned in her sleep and curled her knees up to her chest. Then she breathed in deep. 

And kept on sleeping.

***

Rei stared at Mina in shock. "You mean she's _still_ sleeping? After all I did, getting here on time, and she's STILL ASLEEP??" She demanded.

(Rei had arrived 3 minutes after Lita and Ami had, but she was still in office clothes, so she took time to change. When she came back out, Mina informed her that Serena was still asleep. Hence, the comment from above.)

Lita winced. "Well, I don't know if she is still now, but…"

The raven-haired girl rose from the couch she was sitting on and started walking towards Serena's bedroom door. Everyone else tried to protest the motion, but she answered them, "Relax. I'm just paying back the favor. She bossed me around… I boss her around." 

By the time they all recovered from their shock, Rei was already deep in Serena's room. There was nothing they could do except sit and wait.

***

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Serena'd pulled the heavy drapes shut and the only light was a result of the nightlight that was in the corner. A quick glance confirmed that Serena was, in fact, still sleeping. 

As her lips curved into a smile, you could swear that horns grew on top of her head. She gently pulled back the covers and then took a deep breath. "Serena WAKE UP!"

"AHHH!" The blonde in bed screamed. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Rei allowed herself a satisfied smirk and sat back on a chair in her friend's room. "Nothing, right now." 

Serena was looking blankly at her opponent's angelic expression, and was immediately doubtful. "What do you mean, "nothing"? You just came in here and yelled me awake-I'd say that counts as something. Hey. What time is it? Aren't you early?"

The sitting woman rolled her eyes so sharply Serena check to make sure they hadn't fallen out of her head. "NOTHING'S HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU TOOK A 5 HOUR NAP AND NOW WHEN EVERYBODY'S HERE—YOU'RE STILL ASLEEP!" Then she reminded herself to breathe deeply and relaxed back in her seat, looking at her nails nonchalantly as she waited for her words to sink in.

Serena stared at her dumbly. "It's 7 o clock. Already? Wow." She scanned the room for her digital clock and gaped at what she saw. "AHHH! IT'S ALMOST 8 O CLOCK! REI—YOU LIED TO ME!!" She took a gasping breath, "I have to get ready, I have to shower, I have to change, I have to—"

Rei cut her off, "—Then just DO IT, Meatball Head, and stop _talking_ about it!"

So she did.

***

When Ami heard the screams, she was worried. But she relaxed when who she hoped was Serena, screamed back. And then, in less than 5 minutes, Rei walked out the door quietly, looking very pleased.

"She's all right?" She asked.

Rei gave her a peculiar once-over. "She's _fine._ I didn't hurt her or anything."

"She's coming?"

This time, Rei grinned. "She's already on her way."

***

**Author's Notes:**

READ THESE PLEASE! THERE MAY BE SOMETHING THAT CONCERNS YOU!!!

Just so everyone gets this straight, because I get the feeling it confused A LOT of you: the question about the senshi and the generals vs. guys was for *another* story. I am planning on keeping things here the way they are. I was just asking about my other fic, "How Crystal Tokyo Came About," because I wasn't sure where I wanted to take it, and I really trust your guys' opinion. (I _really_ have to shorten that title.)

Ok. This I just decided. We're calling "How Crystal Tokyo Came About," "Crystal," and we're calling "How About A Cup of Coffee," "Coffee." All right? All right.

Question of the fic: Should I introduce the outers into this story? (This question pertains to COFFEE.) 

I already have roles for them, Pluto may or may not be _Sailor_ Pluto… but I have positions set for Uranus, and Neptune. Maybe a position for Hotaru… we'll see. It's harder to write an under-age character, but I suppose we all need a little Saturn-alia. 

Here's where it gets weird. If everything about this turns out okay, I am planning to do a sequel to it—when they all find out that they're senshi. (Can you just see Darien with that one? Hoo boy will this be fun!)

For more news on the fanfic homefront: I am looking for a beta-reader. (ducks at incoming emails) Since my limited email access, I wouldn't be able to send it to you before posting. Which I guess defeats the purpose—but anyway, I'm looking for an editor/reader/PERSON who I can consult for all this stuff. Like the generals vs. guys, whether the outers should be introduced, etc. A few people, just to consult when I get writers block and have terminology problems, stuff like that. 

If you're interested, just send me a short little email about why you want the job and why you'd be good for it.

I should probably just open a message board. Hmm. Maybe I will look into that. (*edits* OOH! I **did!** Anyone who wants to be on it will have to sign up with blogger—I'll give you the link after that.)

Another order of business: I am going to set up a notification list for everyone who wants to know when I update. I don't know if it will be specifically Sailor Moon, but if you want to be on it, I'll just take your emails off the reviews. So I'll just assume that EVERYONE who left a review with their email wants to be on it. Leave me a review with instructions saying that you DON'T WANT TO BE ON IT if you don't.

And lastly, check out Fleur's (On ff.net.) work. She's one of my friends and she has a really great multi-chaptered one out there. 

Ok that's all for now… don't forget to check out *my* other Sailor Moon fics while you're waiting—especially, Gray Sky Morning—which I _just_ *crosses fingers* finished.


	9. 7B

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 7B

*

Darien Shields stared at his state-of-the-art computer's flat screen. And groaned. _Loudly_. "Of all the days, Rei… of all the days." He groaned some more and thunked his head down on the black desk.

There was the click of the door opening as he tilted his head to the side and popped one eye open. Andrew's golden head was all that could be seen of him.

          "I hope you're not doing what it _sounds_ like you're doing."

He sat up so fast and glared at him so harshly that Andrew brought up his hand—holding a piece of white office paper—in surrender formation.

          "I'm just gonna go now…"

The ebony-haired man grunted in approval and turned his glare on the computer screen. "Seriously, Rei. It had to be tonight, didn't it?" He rose from his leather-backed chair, copying something down onto a sticky note. Flicking off the lights, he grabbed his suitcase, and walked out of the office.

***

The music was so loud, he could hear as he parked his car outside. Casting a wary glance upwards, and wincing at the _life_ of the party, he could only imagine what was going on up there.

There was no time to think about that, though, because Rei took the documents for the Firm's travel arrangements to Milan—documents he needed to scan and go over as soon as he could—and then the board needed to review it. 

          "But such is life," he mocked, and, clasping a hand around the golden door-handle, he walked inside and waited for the elevator.

***

          "_You gotta do much better if you gone dance with me tonight  
You gotta work your jelly if you gone dance with me tonight  
Read my lips carefully if you like what you see  
Move, groove, prove you can hang with me  
By the looks I got you shook up and scared of me  
Hook up your seatbelt, it's time for takeoff  
  
I don't think you ready for this jelly  
I don't think you ready for this jelly  
I don't think you ready for this   
Cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe_"

Serena, Mina and Danyelle were in the front of the living room, pajamas on, strutting their stuff. "Bootylicious" was the song of choice by all and while the other girls were getting ready for bed—it had become an impromptu sleep-over, they decided to take some action.

Suddenly, the doorbell buzzed and Mina went over to answer it. "Hello?"

But, dear readers, because of the static and volume of the music, she heard no answer. _The pizza guy was late_, she mused, and figuring it was him, she buzzed him up. 

Finally, Rei, Lita, and Ami came out, fully clothed in pajamas that reflected their personalities. (AN: I'd go into greater detail now, but I have no time, seeing as I want to get this out within the next 10 minutes. You had better review this because I worked my BUTT off for you guys. Ahem.) 

Rei was wearing red, beaded, two-piece pajama's, Lita had on a set of boxers and a tank top, and Ami had on a baby-nightgown that was _all_ Ami. (They brought PJ's over just in case. *winks*)

The door buzzed again and Serena heard it over the music. "I'll get it!!! It's probably just the pizza guy!"

She opened the door, singing the last line of the song, "_Cause my body too bootylicious for ya babe-bayyyyyy!"_ Then she looked up at who was at the door and gasped. And then she closed the door in his face—because that wasn't the pizza guy.

***

Few things got to Darien as much as Serena did, but something stirred inside him when she answered the door to her apartment, dressed in a practically see-thru tank top that was falling off her shoulders and a pair of boxers that were _way_ too short. And when she answers the door saying something about her body being to "bootylicious," well, that was a bit hard on the young man. 

After all, he just realized how much of a beauty she'd grown into this morning… after he'd gotten quite the view of her legs.

Sighing, and bracing for the worst, he knocked on the door again, as loud as he could, grasping the fact that she hadn't known he was coming. That plastered a happy-grin on his face, so when Rei opened the door a second later, that was what she saw.

***

Meanwhile…

          "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT DARIEN SHEILDS MAKES '_HOUSE CALLS'_? Huh? Or am I just too dumb to be told something like that?"

Rei walked over to the blonde, who was in a stage of full-freakout at this time. "Calm down, you meatball headed blonde. Darien is at the door?"

Unable to speak, from anger and shock, Serena just nodded. 

          "Well. I'll go see what he wants, ok?"

Serena nodded again and Rei opened the door.

***

          "Darien?" Rei asked him coolly. "What are you doing here?"

He frowned. _What exactly _was_ he doing there? Oh yeah…_ "I came for the attendance lists for Milan—you took them with you, they weren't on my desk when I left today. I need them," he stated again, unnecessarily.

The raven-haired woman looked at him blankly. "Well I don't have them."

          "What?" he asked, not wanting to believe her.

          "I. Don't. Have. Them." Said Rei, speaking condescendingly to him.

Unable to suppress the yell that came out of his mouth, he nearly punched the wall in frustration. "You mean to tell me that I came all the way here—_for nothing!!!!_ Is this some sort of cosmic joke?"

She closed the door gently and stepped into the hallway. Taking him by the shoulders, she started to push him towards the elevator, pushing the 'down' button and waiting for the elevator.

          "Darien, you need to go home and relax. Do whatever you need to do to calm down."

He sighed and nodded. "You're right Rei, thanks." He stepped inside the elevator and just as the door was closing Rei called out, 

          "And Darien? You didn't come here for nothing. You go to see Serena in pajama's."

And then the door closed.

***

End part 7B


	10. 8A: The morning after

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 8

*

The sun peered incessantly through the curtains. The ball-headed blonde rolled over, turning away from the offensive rays. She smiled in her sleep and sighed softly. 

          "Oh Endymion…" she said softly.

As if a siren had gone off, Rei's eyes snapped open and her body shot up off the floor. Her senses were on the alert—the name that Serena had whispered so softly had ripped her out of a dead sleep—and set off alarms in her system.

Realizing it was useless to try to sleep again, she got up out of her sleeping bag and wandered into the kitchen. There she found Ami, sitting at the counter and drinking a glass of milk.

          "Oh, hello, Rei." Ami looked up from the newspaper she was reading.

          "Hey Ames. What are you doing up so early?"

Ami smiled gently. "I couldn't sleep. All night long I had dreams about a palace, shrouded in mist…" she trailed off, uncertain and embarrassed. "When I woke up, it was no better—I had a splitting headache—that's why I'm drinking the warm milk—to take with some aspirin." She took another sip of the milk and picked up two capsules on the table, and, swallowing them, looked back up to Rei.

          "Oh, and it's not _that_ early. It's nearly 8 o'clock, and we have to get to work soon. I just couldn't bring myself to wake them."

The blue-haired woman watched as Rei got a funny look in her eye and leaned out the doorway to the kitchen, hanging onto the doorframe for balance, and shouted—

          "YOU GUYS! WAKE UP! IT'S 8 O'CLOCK!"          

She turned back to a stunned Ami, a satisfied smile on her face. "They're up."

***

Mina stood at the door dutifully, looking at the line of presentable women before her. "You have your briefcase?"

          "Check."

          "Check."

          "You have your dress, Lita? Maura said the seamstress was coming today." 

          "Check."

She turned to her cousin, "you have your coffee?… Serena?"

          "What? Oh—no, we're going to hit Starbucks on our way there."

Mina frowned. "Are you sure you have enough time?"

Serena waved her hand dismissively. "Sure, sure we do."

Danyelle, who was going into work late, looked dubiously at Mina, and the group in front of them. "If you want say so." Then she looked at the clock behind her. "If you want, I'll call Ally and tell her to have your drinks ready, so all you have to do is run in and pay…"

***

Four women were running full-speed into the high-rise entrance to the Shields Modeling and Co. Well, actually, one woman was, and she was dragging another one behind her. As they entered through the thick glass doors, an elderly woman at the reception desk called out, "Morning Ms. Kensington!"

And Rei called over her shoulder, "Morning, Miss Maura!" She looked back at Lita and Ami, who didn't have _quite_ so far to go and therefore, didn't have to rush like she and Serena did. "We have to go—see you guys at lunch?"

          "Okay!" They chimed.

She dragged the petite blonde over to a poorly lit hallway, littered with gum wrappers and dirty ashtrays. There, she pushed open a heavy metal door—leading into a totally transformed hallway.

The carpet was a plush red, with a commercial flower design on the center and edges. Rei led Serena to an elevator with gold plated doors and pushed the single 'up' button on the wall.

Finally, she had time to breathe. "Uh Rei? …Where are we?" 

Before she could answer, the doors opened and the stepped into an equally decorated elevator.

          "Welcome to the Express Elevator." She hit the 'close door' button. "Going up."

***

Andrew was going over the flight list with Darien. "So the full crew—models, seamstresses and caterers—will be on, and Mina will lead as your star model."

          "Are you sure you don't want to come, Drew?"

Two women burst through his office doors cutting off Andrew's response. 

Rei smoothed her skirt down nonchalantly and said, "We're here… and I'll take your work on my desk." She walked out, and Serena made move to follow her, but Darien's mocking voice stopped her.

          "Ms. Cohen? Please—by all means—stay. We're going give you a tour of the building today."

She blinked a few times and smiled weakly. The only sign that he was getting to her was the fact that after he spoke, she lifted her frappuchino and took a long drag.

***

          "And over here, we have the fittings—it's right next to the dressing rooms—very convenient." Darien brushed his hands briskly and looked at the 'numbed' blonde standing next to him. "That about covers it, Serena, so if you want to take a break for lunch—I'll see you at my office in 45 minutes for a test run."

          "Test run?" She asked, having perked up at the mention of lunch.

He laughed. "Yes—we need to see how you fare on the catwalk."

***

**Author's Notes**:

Being that we didn't have these last chapter, I'm combining them for this one.

Yes, I _know_ this was a short chapter. It's meant to be. I wanted it to be short for effect. If all goes well, maybe I can get chapter 8B out by tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, we'll be in Milan by Saturday. *grins evilly* And boy, will _that_ be ever so much fun.

Also, I'm not inserting a disclaimer anymore. You got one in the beginning—consider that for all the chapters, okay? 

In 7B—the song I used was –as if you didn't know—_Bootylicious_, By Destiny's Child. I don't own the song. Or the lyrics. Which I got online.

Feedback is godlike. To review is like the extra push for me to keep going. 

If you're on my mailing list or want to be on it, don't worry; I just haven't organized it yet. If anyone _new_ wants to be on the list and isn't send me an email.

Ok. That's all for now.


	11. 8B: The afternoon

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 8B

*

          "_I'm too sexy for my shirt, to sexy for my shirt, too sexy for me…_" 

The music blared out of the speakers in the main auditorium-like room that the company hosted its models in. There was a blonde on the stage, mock-walking back and forth and an on-looker visibly winced when she nearly tripped.

Hurriedly, the on-looker walked out of her hiding place, to the elevators. 

To the 51st floor.

***

          "She's insane! I told her to be back 20 minutes ago—where is she?"

Andrew placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Calm down, Darien. I'm sure she's just catching up with the girls—or maybe she got lost."

There was a knock at the door and Andrew, being closer, walked to open it.

In walked one Madison, a model with medium-length blonde hair and blue eyes. But where Serena's eyes were warm and inviting—depending on who she was talking to—Madison's were cold, calculating, and scheming. 

          "I think I can help with your missing model."

The men exchanged looks and Darien inwardly winced. This was not getting off to a good start.

***

Lita and Ami were cheering for her. Rei was snapping pictures. And to tell the truth, Serena had never felt more alive.

          "_'Cause I'm a model, you know what I mean   
And I do my little turn on the catwalk   
Yeah, on the catwalk, yeah, on the catwalk, yeah   
I shake my little touche on the cat—"_

Abruptly, the music was flicked off, and Serena stopped shaking her "touche" on stage. They all turned to the back to see who had brightened the dimmed lights and shut down the speakers.  

Darien proved to be the culprit, with Andrew walking not to far behind him. The closer they got, the girls could see that the darker-haired man was clapping, mocking Serena and she winced as she noticed the black look on his face. 

Angry with himself at letting his guard down and not wanting to believe he had been thrown a curve, he spoke harshly. "Well done, Meatball Head. You just proved how much work needs to be done."

Mouths agape, the women stared at him as Andrew swatted him on the back. "_Be_. **Nice**."

Darien sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cohen. That came out rather harsh." Truth was, seeing Serena the way he had last night, and now—shaking her butt off on the stage—was frustrating him more than he imagined. "We should get you schooled in this stuff anyway—so maybe you've opened up a gift box, instead of a can of worms."

Her friends said goodbye quietly. She stood patiently, waiting for his next words; very unlike her fiery nature, but she had no other choice—she'd been wrong this time.

Andrew called over his shoulder, "I'm sticking the tickets on my desk," and didn't wait for an answer as Darien gave him a backhanded wave.

Mumbling something about jealous, skanky models, he made his way over to her, threading in between seats, until he finally reached the steps that led to the main stage.

He climbed them, "Come on, Serena," and extended his hand to help her up.

Cautiously, she placed her hand in his and she stood quietly while he assessed her body—in a way they both had to remind themselves was purely business. 

          "Well. Your figure is fine—perfect for the line we're launching this month in Milan. It's a shame that Mina has to be our star model—I really think you have potential."

Through eyes half closed, she asked, "Really?"

He was amazed that she was so in doubt of her body. "_Really_." Said Darien firmly. "But we need to start on the basics… and the best time to do that would be now."

***

Five hours, 27 minutes later…

          "AUGH! I can't _do_ anymore, Darien! My legs feel like they're going to come apart from the rest of my body!"

He chuckled at her dramatic statement. "All right, Serena. We can break for the day now."

Suddenly finding use of her legs again, she ran over to him and hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thank YOU!"

Then, as soon as the contact had been, she left, skipping out the doors. He noted, wistfully, that her child-like innocence still remained. She might have the body of a goddess, and the attitude of a full-grown woman… but there were just some things you couldn't grow out of.

***

A horn honked beside her and she jumped out of her skin. Sitting at the wheel of a red Volkswagen bug, was Mina, happily bopping to the music. The window went down and she yelled over the music—

          "Get in—model with a cause!"

Serena laughed and she crossed to the other side of the car. Upon opening the door, "Thanks Mina. I was wondering how I was going to get home—we all carpooled in Rei's BMW this morning."

She closed the door against the sounds of heavy traffic and sank back into her seat while Mina pulled away from the curb.

          "So how did your day go?"

The exhausted blonde shot her cousin a look.

          "That bad, huh?"

          "You don't wanna know the half of it… Darien was pretty funny though—strutting on the catwalk like he was some snobby model. I guess when you're the CEO of a modeling company, you get lots of practice as to how you should walk."

Mina didn't take her eyes off the road as she answered casually, "He used to be a model."

Serena turned to face her cousin, eyes wide. "_No _way!" Then she giggled. "Of course, that explains everything we went through today!"

The more-experienced model kept one ear cocked to the side, half-listening to what her bubbly cousin had to say. She was, in all actuality, waiting for something else, and didn't know how much further she wanted to drive out of the city… when she would have to go back anyway.

They rounded the corner of Madison when, "Oh, _damn_." erupted from her mouth.

Serena stopped her talking to face Mina. "What?"

Mina sighed, frustrated. "I forgot to run in and get my tickets for next week—to Milan." She threw her hands up in the air. "I don't even know where they are!"

Cautiously, Serena guided her hands back onto the steering wheel. "Meens. Calm _down_. I know where they are."

A huge, beaming smile lit up Mina's face, and fell just as suddenly. "Can you go in and get them—please?" Serena well recognized the wheedling tone to her voice, "if I go in and get them, Andrew's gonna find me and we made a bet that I would remember to get my tickets. If I go in and search for them—he'll find me and I'll lose the bet. Besides! He _always_ wins—I wanna win for once."

The worn-out model moaned. "I don't wanna go back in there—my feet feel like they're gonna fall off and my back has gone completely numb."

          "Please, Serena?" She asked, quietly.

Hating herself and feeling every bone and muscle in her body rebelling, she reluctantly consented. "Oh, _okay_."

The words weren't even out of her mouth when the car made a rapid U-turn and they were speeding back to the company.

***

As soon as Serena was out of the car, Mina speedialed Andrew on her cell. "She's on her way."

          "Gotcha."

***

He shoved up from his seat, palms on the desk for leverage, and grabbed the ticket binder in one, clean, swoop. Not bothering to close the door, he sprinted down the long hallway that separated his office and Darien's—busting in the doors. 

Then he breathed.

          "Where's the fire, Drew?"

Andrew turned around; hands in pockets, his innocent look fixed firmly in place while bracing the binder against his butt. "I—I thought I saw a… a… black cat!" He finished triumphantly.

As Darien gave him the brunt of his fully skeptical glare, Andrew surreptitiously slid the binder of tickets on the credenza behind him; making it seem—from Darien's point of view—like Andrew was backwards…um…_humping_ the poor, defenseless piece of furniture, **and** standing on his tiptoes while doing it.

          "Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

Breathing a sigh of relief that it had settled on the desk safely, he said, "Yeah. That cat really shook me up." He looked around a while more, not wanting to meet Darien's eyes. "Well. I'm gonna book it—Mina and I have a date." 

Darien gave him an obliging nod, and returned to his paperwork. The new designs for this line they were modeling… some of them wouldn't look good on the girls.

Andrew turned hastily to exit, but slammed into the door, causing Darien to look back up from his paperwork.

Successfully making it out the door, he waited until he was out of view before racing back to his office, noting tat a car in the express elevator was rapidly on the rise.

Sitting down in the desk chair thankfully, he pressed the speedial to Mina and waited as she picked up.

          "It's done."

***

The ride up to the 51st floor was silent. She stepped out of the elevator quietly and walked to Andrew's office. 

          "Owww." She said, slipping off her pumps, and then digging her toes into the plush carpet. "Oh that feels _so_ much better."

Blissfully making her way to Andrew's office, she knocked loudly and entered. Not looking up, he motioned a hand to her, telling to come in, while finishing up with Mina.

          "Yeah, sweetie. I love you too. Bye."

He placed the phone back in the cradle and looked up at her. "Serena! What can I do for you—you didn't have enough model practice to day with Darien?" He laughed at her horrified look.

          "No!" She hastened to explain, lest he make her go through some more rigorous training. "I just came to pick up Mina's ticket… though I don't think I was supposed to tell you that," she smacked her forehead.

He laughed again. "It's okay, Serena. As long you're in the building, not her, the bet still stands." Then he sobered up. "I placed the tickets in Darien's office for a read-over. I'd go get them myself, but I _will_ be late for our date if I do that—I have some papers to get myself before I can go home."

She gave him a tired smile. "It's okay, Andrew, I'll get them." Then she grimaced. "Darien's office, did you say?"

His only answer was a brief nod of his downward head; already going over those papers.

She groaned loudly and walked out of his office… just in time to miss the victorious grin on Andrew's face.

***

She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Chill out, Serena. You have no problems with your boss. I mean, other than the fact that he saw you in your pajamas and your ripped skirt," she smiled at the last memory and the way his jaw had dropped open, "but you spent a normal—well, _semi_-normal—day with him. You didn't freak out and you had a normal conversation; when he wasn't screaming at her to be still or 'try it this way,' or—well. Water under the bridge now.

          "So if you know all this, girl—then why are the butterflies in your stomach pounding to fly out…"

Taking the initiative, she pushed open the ajar doors and peered in. Darien was sitting at his desk, small reading glasses on and frowning quiet fiercely. She wondered if he knew what he looked like when he was frustrated with something and had to bite back a smile.

She stepped quietly in the office and knocked on the credenza—which, she noticed belatedly—was where the ticket binder was.

His head shot up from the paperwork, blue eyes searching out her own. "Yes, Serena?"

          "I um, came to pick up Mina's airline ticket… Andrew said it would be in here."

A grin dawned on Darien's face, realizing what Andrew had been doing before. "I _knew_ Drew wasn't afraid of cats." He muttered to himself.

Serena looked at him. "What?"

He looked back up, "Oh, nothing." He waved her at the binder. "Go, go. Take out Mina's ticket."

She did so and while her back was turned he watched her thoughtfully, looking at the piece of paper on his desk. "Serena?"

She turned. "Yes?"

Darien picked up the ticket. "Here. This is for you—we had it Fed-Ex-ed this afternoon."

She walked over to the desk and took the ticket from him. _Serena Cohen. First class, round trip from Newark, New Jersey to Milan, Italy_. She looked up at him. "Thank you, Darien." Her eyes shone. "Thank you for believing in me."

He smiled warmly—it wasn't often that she smiled in his direction—especially when they were younger, and in Tokyo. "Think of it as goal to aspire to, Ms. Cohen." And with a final, small smile, he returned to his paperwork. _At last. Progress._

She was halfway to the door when he stopped her again. "And Serena?"

Serena turned, flinging some blonde hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, Darien?"

Darien looked at her, the picture she made; the figure she had. "Try and be on time tomorrow—I'd like to introduce you to the board."

***

**Author's Notes**:

I would just like to give credit where credit is due: Fleur helped me with the idea for the last chapter—where Darien had to come to the house because of Rei's documents. And Marni, one of my editors, helped with the idea for this chapter—the part where Mina makes Serena return to get the documents for her. Everything else is mine.

Okay guys, now for the bad news. I have mid-terms coming up. Yeah, big, bad, nasty midterms and I am _so_ not looking forward to them. Between studying and managing the rest of my life this week—and half of next—I won't be writing or posting any more chapters to this until midterms are over. 

So. You all have to do your reader-ly duty and review—because if, by some totally lucky chance—I **do** get to log on—I want TONS of reviews sitting in my inbox. Nothing like a little motivation to make you want to break that nasty mid-term still.

And if you want to be on my mailing list, but aren't yet—send me an email—I can't keep track of everybody who I've put in and who I haven't.


	12. 9 The helicopter, the Board, and some lu...

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 9

*

The next morning at work, Serena was bone-tired. The sleep had somewhat lessened the pain and the frappuchino Darien had waiting for her that morning was dulling the aches—but there were some things that just couldn't be fixed.

She groaned and reached for another exotic scarf of the rack. Darien had told her to dress for this meeting—that she could wear whatever she wanted—as long as it came for the company's supply. So here she was, stuck in the vaults of the company dressing areas, picking out a presentable look. 

A chuckle interrupted her thoughts. "You can't find anything?" asked Lita sympathetically. She'd been searching with Serena for an outfit since Serena had dragged her out of a meeting, demanding for help.

"No. Not a single thing. Everything looks too… frumpy or slutty, or just… _not _me. I can't find a _single _thing." (Not for a lack of trying though, for they weren't lacking anything.)

          "Hmmm." Lita rifled through a rack that was rather hidden behind a few others. Her nimble fingers viewed through the rack carefully, and then caught on a fabric with blue sequins. She paused. They may have just met their match.

Her back to Serena, she pulled out the dress, frowning when she noticed she 'hold' tag on the hanger. She looked at the name and bit back a groan. Then she checked the size and grinned. 

It was for Madison, but there was no way that model was a size four anymore. Her chest alone—since she'd gotten-_ahem_-improvements—would rip the delicate seams on the dress. There was an accompanying jacket that went down to nearly the bottom of the dress—which ended just below the knee.

She pocketed the tag with a wicked smile. "Hey, Serena!"

The blonde looked up over a few racks, "Yeah?"

Lita held up the dress with a triumphant grin. "We found your dress."

***

The air was chilly, still damp and Serena shivered from the feeling. Darien noticed it, and was about to remark on the sad excuse she was wearing for a coat, when he noticed—not for the first time—how well the dress fit her.

It clung to every curve she possessed, enhanced her chest, and smoothed over her body like butter. He gulped and absently patted his hair down as the wind from the helicopter's blades ripped apart any sense of calm.

Her blue eyes widened in size as she watched the powerful air-borne transport land on the launch pad before them. Darien grabbed her arm to pull her back, but she barely felt the tingles running up and down her spine, so in awe was she of their transportation.

Barely felt. 

There was definitely some tingle-age. (AN: lol.)

The doors slid back and two efficient looking people climbed out. One, with long, aqua colored, wavy hair, and the other, with short, dirty blonde. A man and a woman, and they seemed to be completely in control.

The man approached Serena, a move that did not go unnoticed by Darien. "Hey. You're new. I'm Haruka Ten'ou. Welcome to my helicopter."

          "You—_Your_ helicopter?"

          "And mine." The woman piped up. She stood next to Darien and smiled. "Glad to have you back, Mr. Shields."

It was going to be a _long_ day.

***

The ride was pretty much uneventful, except for some winds they came into halfway to Boston.

Serena was quiet—a first for her—wondering if she'd done the right thing by agreeing to come with him.

The two pilots were obviously at ease—with each other and with Darien (she got the impression they'd flown him before). It was almost funny, she mused, unaware of the grin on her face, but she could have _sworn_ that the Ten'ou man was flirting with her. Unable to repress the memory, she had to acknowledge that the graceful Kai'ou woman had taken to Darien much in the same way.

That caused a small dart of… _something_ to pierce her heart and she frowned. Abruptly, tired of the route her thoughts were taking, she turned in her seat to look at the tall blonde man with the headset. 

"How much longer?"

He turned and smiled—confident that Michiru would take the controls. "We've only a few minutes left—15 to 20 at the most." His gaze seemed to be assessing her feelings, for next he said to her, "Calm down, little bumpkin. It can't be that bad." And then he flashed her a grin that should have made her heart bottom out.

Of course, when the passengers weren't looking, he felt the repercussions of _that_ little act, and winced.

Michiru still packed quite a jab.

***

Darien wished he knew why she was so nervous. And he wished that Mr. Ten'ou would keep more to himself instead of Serena.

They began their descent and he glanced at Serena for what felt like the millionth time, except this time, she looked a little green.

          "Serena?"

She pasted a smile on her face. "I'm fine." She stated unconvincingly.

The pilots were too engrossed with the landing procedures to notice. 

But Darien wasn't. 

***

She wished she had eaten a little more before the flight. Or would that have made her sick feelings worse? And she also wished Darien would stop staring at her. It was bad enough that she felt ill—she didn't need Darien to make her feel worse about.

_Hmph. He's probably afraid I'll get barf all over the helicopter. _

Suddenly the idea of barfing seemed all too likely, and so she held her breath for the duration of the landing. 

Finally, they touched the ground and she let loose a big sigh. 

Haruka barely had time to clear the door before Serena rushed out of the door, and leaned over the side of the building, tossing up her breakfast.

***

Like a shot, Michiru and Haruka ran over to help Serena. Haruka tenderly wiped her mouth, and helped her to a sitting position while Michiru brushed back her hair and rubbed her back soothingly. 

Darien, who had been watching all of this from inside the helicopter, struggled with his briefcase and Serena's rather large carryon bag. An odd feeling came over him as he saw his two main pilots calming her. Like he had seen it somewhere before. And apparently, they weren't all that opposed to the idea—hell, they had just met and were all over her like she was their long lost sister or something. The tenderness in the situation nearly overwhelmed him.

Finally, just as he was approaching, Serena stood up, helped on either side by the pilots. As if she were the one in charge, she reached for her handbag—took it out of the large carryon, and smoothed her dress down.

          "Let's go."

***

They made it into a rather large office building, that—unbeknownst to Serena—was also owned by the company—and made their way to the top floor.

At last, they reached a set of imposing oak double doors and Serena stopped in her tracks, looking up at Darien nervously. "You sure this is what you want to do—you want me in there? I mean, I threw up over some poor guy down below this morning, so I'd totally understand if you didn't want me to—"

          "—Serena." He grabbed her shoulder with one hand, taking in her appearance again. The dress showed no sign of this morning's events and her hair, which was styled in loose waves (AN: Think *grimaces* Britney Spears here, except without the dark ugly roots and platinum color.) and her blue eyes were sparkling; with nerves or excitement, he couldn't tell. "It'll be fine. I need to talk over the plans for Milan, and they need to see our newest model."

Her forehead wrinkled. "But can't they just see pictures?"

He gave her a hard look and opened the doors to shove her inside.

Serena wasn't sure, but she thought he mumbled something about 'pictures not doing justice.'

***

The next 20 minutes were somewhat of a blur to Serena. When they walked in, the meeting that the chairmen—and women—were holding had come to a screeching halt. Then, one especially warm man had come over, shaken her hand, and enveloped her a bear hug. The love behind the gesture was overwhelming, and she had definitely teared up when the meeting was over.

Everyone had been especially nice to her, and even when they had to kick her out to talk business with Darien, they'd done it nicely.

Her stomach growled as she realized it was probably after lunch, and she was hungry. Her toes traced the pattern of the rug below—a rose pattern not unlike the one where the express elevator was, and she smiled at the familiarity.

There was the sound of a discreet cough and she whirled around to see Darien standing there, tugging off his tie. 

          "So, Serena. You survived the board meeting. How do feel about getting some lunch?"

          "Um, okay Darien. What did they ask you?"

He looked down at her, even as he steered her to the elevator. "What—oh. They wanted to talk over details about the trip to Milan and they wanted me to ask you if—"

          "—No way Darien!" Serena held onto his arm like a vise. "There is _no way in Hell_ I am going back on that _thing_," she pointed at the helicopter, "again." She turned around very sharply, causing the seam in her skirt to rip. (AN: yep. _Again_.)

He had to steel his eyes to look at her face, and not down at her legs—they'd come farther than that. The raw, naked fear in her eyes scared him. And something inside of him snapped. "Okay Serena. We'll drive back to Manhattan. But before we do, we really should eat something."

Her spirits rejuvenated, she favored him with a mega-watt smile. "No argument there."

***

They had taken a car that Darien kept in the parking garage of the board meeting for occasions when he wanted to spend some time in Boston.

The route they took gradually became less and less populated until he turned off onto what looked like a private road. There were trees above their heads and Serena leaned forward in her seat, certain that she was going to be awed by the place where they were going.

When they finally cleared the driveway, Darien pulled into a circular unpaved path and parked the car. 

Serena was awed, all right. She was absolutely floored. "This—this isn't a restaurant, is it?"

He chuckled at her astonishment. "No, Serena. This is where I used to live when I would run the company from home. You _do_ want to come in, right?"

          "Oh yes."

          "Good. Let's go."

***

Serena sank down onto a violet colored chair and forked some penne with vodka crème sauce into her mouth. "This is—so good. Where did you get it from?"

Darien walked in from the kitchen, his heart twisting painfully as he saw her ensconced in his favorite chair. She looked _so perfect_ there; he didn't have the heart to ask her to move. "Actually, I made it." At her incredulous look, he laughed. "Don't look so shocked. After my parents died… I had to take car of myself. Our housekeeper, Vera, stayed… and she taught me how to cook."

She placed her bowl down on the glass table in front of her. "Darien, I didn't know your parents died."  

He tried not to look at her expressive face. "It happened a long time ago. When I was about 10. As soon as I turned 19, I made sure I left for America—Japan held too many bad memories for me—and that's how I came into the ownership of this house."

          "So _that_'s why I didn't see you after high school. Oh god, Darien, I had no idea." She got up off her chair and walked over to him; then she leaned down to give him a hug and he hesitantly embraced her back.

She smelled of warmth and flowers—was it roses in particular?—but something inside him healed as he realized she was giving him comfort in the only way she knew how—through love.

Finally she leaned back and kissed his cheek. "I know you might not want to talk about it—but I'll be here if you ever do. Just so you know, you're not alone in that boat. My parents died when I was 18—a freak accident—and Mina's mom took me in. That's why we're so close."

He swallowed, a particularly painful action, and stood, trying to regain his composure. "We should get back."

She nodded and took their plates to the kitchen, leaving him alone to sort out his thoughts.

***

The drive back was quiet, Darien coming to terms that he'd actually bonded with Serena—who was supposed to be his mortal enemy—and the with the shocking fact that _her_ parents had died, too. With a start, he realized that he never asked her what the board had asked of him—to have her come as his date for the trip.

He spared Serena a glance, and smiled gently when he saw that she was sleeping. Her head was propped up by her hand, which was propped up by her elbow that was leaning against the window. Her long blonde hair was settled softly against her shoulders and she looked—for once—at peace with herself.

He couldn't explain it, but Darien swore that there was always something going on in her life that made it impossible for her to be complete, a hundred percent of the time. Sure, she was happy, and optimistic—a quality that he didn't possess—and yeah, she was even smiling at every chance she got. (He supposed happy people did that a lot.) But still… it was like something was missing…

Darien came to a stop in front of the apartment building, feeling a sense of déjà vu wash over him. Although he had come here two nights ago, it had been for an entirely different reason. Sighing, he leaned over and shook her shoulder gently.

          "Serena? Serena it's time to wake up, we're here."

The blonde rubbed her eyes and sat upright. "Hey. This is where I live. How did you know that?"

He blushed, "I came to pick up the airline arrangements from Rei, remember?"

A pink tinge covered her own cheeks. "Right."

They sat in the car for a few seconds while Serena gathered her stuff—the huge carryon, her pocketbook, the jacket that went to her dress, and she slid out of the luxury car.

          "If you give me your keys, I'll have someone drive your car home for the morning." He offered, not wanting her to leave just yet.

She grinned and dug through her bag until she handed him her keys. "You _do_ think of everything."

He tilted his head and managed a lopsided grin—that made her heart drop into her feet. "I try to take good care of models that survive my cooking—that for me, is punishment enough."

Sliding the bag onto her shoulder, she fitted her key in the lock until the doorman buzzed her in. He watched her carefully, wanting to make sure she got in okay. At the very last second, she turned around, "Thanks Darien!" 

And he knew that all was well in her world.

***

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry this took so long to get out, you guys. I really am sorry—but had a few other things that took priority. Um. Oh! If I missed anybody on the update list, or you didn't get an invitation, click here to sign up.

I realize that this chapter was probably lacking details… _*I*_ thought it was, anyway, but I had to sacrifice SOMETHING to get this out by today. It was pretty vital that I did, too. BUT—this chapter was a long one—longer than normal, so you should all be happy with that.

Next chapter—which you should all review for—is the plane trip to Milan. So cheer up! The story's almost halfway done.

Also, keep reading Fleur's stuff, and leave reviews! She's my editor—the main one—and I need her in good spirits to keep doing my chapters. Right now, she has this really funny Harry Potter parody out—go read that! It's hysterical—I don't even _READ_ Harry Potter and I was cracking up.

Ahem.

Anyway.

Now, before anyone jumps all down my throat about Ms. Britney, you should know that I don't hate her. I don't necessarily _love_ her, but I definitely do **not** hate her. I have all the CD's, and I listen to "Overprotected" regularly—since that's what I do my stomach crunches to at the gym. (And let me just tell you—that is such a good CD to work out to.) Anyway. Not that you all needed to know that, but now you do. Plus—on MTV TRL radio right now, we've got Ms. Spears singing "From the Bottom of my Broken Heart." So yeah. I'm in Brit mode.


	13. 10: Planes and Missed Opportunities

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 10

*

The room was a mess. Clothing, toiletries, hangers, shoes, makeup and bags littered the floor. If you followed the trail out to the living room, Serena Cohen was sacked out uncomfortably on her sea-green couch, breathing deeply. 

Last night, after getting in around 11:30, she'd started to pack. Around 2:30 this morning, she had finally collapsed on the couch of exhaustion and slept for what was left of the night. The phone next to her ear rang shrilly; once, twice, three times, but no answer. The answering machine picked up and the caller left a message. 

Still, Serena slept on.

***

The coffee was set down on the counter and a blonde couple smiled thankfully at their waitress. 

          "But I didn't get an answer—I hope she didn't fall asleep. Rei will _kill_ her if she makes them late."

Andrew laughed and poured some sugar into his coffee. "Mina—I'm sure she'll be fine. Even Serena knows the importance of this trip. Maybe she's not home." At that comment, Mina's eyes raised from her fashion magazine. "Maybe she slept over Darien's…"

          "_ANDREW!_"

***

With a sudden start, Serena jerked awake. Disorientated, she slid her legs off the couch and threw the chenille blanket aside. 

          "Meens?" No answer. "Mina?"

She painfully made her way to Mina's room, frowning when she saw her cousin's neatly made bed and semi-uncluttered room.

Serena walked back out to the living room and was about to check the kitchen when she noticed the light blinking on the answering machine.

          "Hey—it's me! I stayed over Andrew's last night. (Serena smirked) Rei's coming to pick you up around 7:30," the blonde in the room looked at the clock and yelped in surprise, "see you on the plane!"

          "I'm gonna be late!"

Like the whirlwind that had taken over her room, she was showered, finished packing, and ready to go at 7:29, with 13 seconds to spare. 

There was a knock on the door and she opened it swiftly, defusing Rei's prepared bellow. The raven-haired woman blinked, grabbed one of the bags and they rose in the elevator to the car in silence.

***

          "Flight 1652; Nonstop service from Newark, to Milan, is boarding now. Would all Elite class flyers and Business First passengers come to board at this time." (AN: For anyone who doesn't know, Business First is like First class on a plane—but better. *sighs dreamily* How can I explain this? It has a big screen TV, personal TV's and LOTS of food. On the really bug planes, there are two compartments of business first, the forward cabin, the middle cabin and then the backward cabin is plain old coach. Gotta love Continental.)

Like a robot, Serena stood up, stretched her aching body and yawned as she made her way over to the ticket checker's booth. She barely noticed when they waved her through, didn't answer when they asked her what she wanted to drink, didn't care that she was sitting with someone who had yet to arrive. 

All that mattered was sleep.

***

Darien walked to the forward cabin and took his seat with a sigh, deeply troubled. Andrew and Mina weren't on the plane. They hadn't answered their pages in the airport. They were nowhere to be found. 

He wanted to ask Serena if _she'd _heard anything, but he didn't know where she was, either. Rei assured him that she was on the plane and that she was definitely with them.

A weight settled on his right shoulder and he looked over to see a blonde woman's head there. "Uh…Miss?"

Then the scent of roses and cherries assailed him and he knew he'd found Serena. She looked like she was dead asleep, and he just didn't have the heart to wake her.

***

          "You _sure_ you don't want anything, Leets?"

The brunette looked up from her romance novel. "Positive. Plane food equals death. That's why I _brought_ my food with me." She reached into a bag next to her and drew out some bagged cookies. "**Yum**."

Rei laughed and walked to the forward cabin (AN: They're in the middle, still business first.). She made her way to the snack counter and grabbed a bag of Ritz Bitz crackers and a root beer. The plane hit some air turbulence and the soda, slick from condensation, slipped out of her hand and rolled away.

          "Oh damn."

So that was how Rei Kensington came to be crawling on her hands and knees, looking for her soda. There were a few startled yelps of surprise, and hasty apologies from the soda-searching woman; she was all giving up when she saw the glint of silver in the next row.

          "Aha!"

She saw the outstretched set of male legs—right next to her soda. Standing up, she opened her mouth to ask the man for her soda and nearly lost her footing at what she saw. 

Serena's head was on Darien's shoulder—Darien—who since his parents' death, had shunned most human contact—and their hands were… **_clasped_**??!

Her legs had a mind of their own as they crouched down to that her hand could automatically retrieve the soda. A wisp of her long black hair fell on Darien's nose as she unbent herself from leaning across him and she held her breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn't wake up. 

The slumbering man made no move as she straightened further, but to shift close to Serena; this time wrapping an arm around her shoulders for added warmth.

          '_God, that girl moves fast._'

A devious smile crossed her full lips and she ever so gently shook the root beer. While she was lifting the tab on the can, Serena's leg slid out—and Rei slipped—spraying the soda all over her. Her loud thud jerked Darien awake, which, in turn, awoke Serena.

He leaned over the armrest, "Rei?"

She glared up from her position on the cabin floor, flaming violet eyes simply daring him to ask.

Then, as if she had pushed a button, they both fell back into their respective positions and went back to sleep.

***

On wobbly legs that had nothing to do with altitude, Rei made her way back to her seat, relying heavily on the plane walls for support. 

Gratefully, she sank into her plush chair and breathed a sigh of relief. 

Lita looked up from her book, taking in the sopping strands of hair and wet spots on her clothes. "Everything okay?"

Rei's eyebrows rose to dangerously skeptical heights. "_Yeah_."

Then she opened her second soda—and it exploded all over her.

***

He woke up first—having lost all feeling in his right arm—which was, he mused, as he followed the course—_wrapped around SERENA??!_

So as not to wake her, he removed his arm as gently as possible, flinching when she moaned slightly and tried to burrow into his shoulder. He cast a look outside, and nearly jumped with shock when he saw them kissing the land. 

          "Serena," he shook her should, feeling yet _another_ sense of déjà vu, "wake up—we're here."

No response.

There was a rather large bump as they hit ground and that's when Serena woke, bolting up from her sleep.

Blue eyes cloudy and bewildered, she asked, "We're here?"

          "We're here," he confirmed, watching the light dawn in her eyes.

***

The ride to the airport in the company stretch had been quiet. But now, as they sat in the grand lobby of the 'W' hotel on huge, soft chairs, the conversation poured out.

          "Can you believe we're _finally_ here?"

          "I can. That flight took _forever_—it's about damn time."

          "Did you guys see that statue I think it's a—"

          "AMES! Get over the artwork!"

          "Jeez guys, I was just saying…"

          "WE KNOW!"

(Elsewhere…)

Darien stood at the front desk, arguing with the perky receptionist. She was a pretty redhead with slate-green eyes. 

          "I'm sorry sir—but we have no reservation for Ms. Cohen. We're simply overbooked—your company drew a lot of attention—we can't simply boot someone out of their suite for her. She'll have too room with someone else."

He ran a hand through his hair, barely restraining his temper. "Look," he glanced at her nametag, "_Sam_. This girl has never been to Milan before—this is her first time. Rooming with model's who are in a show she's not—isn't exactly going to make the moment special."

Before she could reply, Maura tugged on Darien's sleeve. "Mr. Shields… no word from Ms. Fuentes or Mr. Tel. They _weren't_ on the flight—and I don't believe they were on the ticket list, either."

All the anger that had been radiating in him unexpectedly dissolved. "**_What_**?"

The older woman put her hand on his shoulder and motherly brushed the lint off his sweater. "They're not coming, dear. They've turned off their cell-phones and no one—_no one_—can contact them or has heard from them."

And then, all Hell broke loose.

***

A short man walking with Mr. Dior approached Darien, who was sitting with his head in his hands.

          "Sir," the shorter man tapped on his shoulder. "My name's Jack Cornell. I'm the head manager at the convention center where the modeling show is to take place."

Darien looked up. He had a nasty feeling he knew what was coming next.

          "You should know… if Ms. Fuentes isn't here… we're going to cancel the show."

He shot up out of his seat; having a sinking suspicion was _nothing_ on knowing the truth. "What? You can't cancel this show! We've been waiting **months** for this."

Mr. Cornell looked a little scared. "With all due respect, sir, I'm sorry, but—"

Darien grabbed him harshly by the collar. "You know what? I'm _tired_ of everyone telling me they're sorry. I'm _so_ tired of hearing it. If you're so sorry, **fix it.**"

Mr. Dior nudged Darien. "Isn't _that_ Miss Mina over there, Darien?"

The ebony-haired man followed his gaze, sparing the convention-center man a withering look. "No." A tired look crossed his face. "That's Seren—UH! Yeah! That _is_ her. She must be going with her disguise… good one this time, huh?" He laughed weakly, surreptitiously clutching his side where Mr. Dior had elbowed him rather harshly.

          "Splendid. The show can go on. "He turned to Mr. Cornell. "See? Ms. Fuentes is here after all."

The convention hall manager looked at them suspiciously and nodded slowly. "Just as long as she's there and in her clothes—you can keep your show."

He walked away and Darien rubbed his side, groaning. "Jeez, Frank. What'd you that for?"

Frank Dior ignored him. "You have your 'Mina,' Darien. Now go find out if she's willing to do it."

***

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted their conversation and Ami looked up from her book to se Darien hovering over their group.

          "Hello Darien. Are the rooms ready?"

At the mention of rooms, he winced. Serena still didn't have a room—no, that wasn't true. Now she had _Mina's_ room; if this went well.

          "Darien?" Rei questioned, her sharper tone drawing him out of his thoughts. 

His stormy blue eyes skimmed though the group, pausing to rest—and softening—on the only blonde in their group. "I need to speak to Serena."

A look of surprise covered her face, but she unfolded herself gracefully from her chair and stood next to him. A ripple of… _something _passed through Rei as she saw them standing together; Serena's face upturned in concern. 

Darien unconsciously put his hand on the small of her back, drawing her away from the group and into a private room at the back of the hallway. He closed the door, and leaned his head against it despairingly.

Serena smoothed some hair off her face, grimacing as she noticed how travel-worn it looked. "Darien, what's wrong? I hear a rumor the show's going to be cancelled; is that true?"

          "Serena," he turned, taking her hands in his and rubbing them distractedly.

Startled she tried to jerk back, but thought better of it, and her eyes were a haze of indefinable blue emotion. "Darien—I—?"

Realizing the effect he was having on her, he stopped rubbing her hands and dropped them harshly. "You have to be Mina."

***

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

BWA HAA HAA HAA HA!

You have to sit on that for a WHOLE MONTH! *sticks out tongue* So **there**.

Now I should probably explain what I mean.

**_I'm taking the month of February off._**

This message is going out on all the latest fan fics that I'm updating, like "Crystal," and "Ashes."

But if you were on the mailing list, you would already know that.

My reasons are simply this:

This is a short month—and I've been putting out chapters a lot faster than I ever dreamed possible. I'm going down the road to burnout, my readers, and if I don't stop, a lot more than my grades are going to suffer.

I have a *ton* of vacation this month, as well, so I wouldn't have a good posting situation anyway. 

It would basically consist of me freaking out, trying to post, going more insane than I already am. 

Which would be bad.

And, on a lighter note: Would you believe someone called me "_Too mature?_" This coming from my friend, you realize. So I stormed over to Fleur's locker (we go to school together) and I told her what she (the other girl, my *friend*) and we agreed that when you have characters like Serena throwing up and Rei spraying her soda everywhere—there is definitely some immaturity there.

*sighs*

You know you guys, not everyone can be perfect like us.

We should pray for them.

So. *ahem* I want lots of emails in my inbox and lots of reviews before and during I'm away. I officially leave tomorrow (Friday) so however many reviews I get will REALLY make my day because I have to sit in school ALL DAY LONG while I wait for the bell to ring at 2:02—so I can go home and GO ON VACAY!!! (lol.) Has anyone seen Legally Blonde? Do you remember that line? I do…

Okay. So you know what you have to do, this is a really long set of Author's Notes… the usual goes for all of you:

* REVIEW!

* Read Fleur's stuff and review it

* Email me if you're so inclined.

* Pray for the lost souls who aren't us.

* Countdown the days until I come back online and post a new chapter.

* Join the mailing list if you haven't already done so.

HAVE A GREAT FEBRUARY WITHOUT ME!!!!  
  



	14. 11A: The Plan

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 11 A

*

By now, eagerly waiting for Serena to come back, Maura had joined the group of girls—Ami, Lita, and Rei—and was listening with interest as the violet-haired woman regaled them with the tales of Serena and Darien's latest escapades. 

          "So I walked to the front of the plane and they were all snuggled up together—like nothing in the world could touch them. It was _amazing_. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself."

          "Yes, but why were you up in the first place, Rei?" Ami asked curiously.

If it were possible, it seemed that Rei had colored ever so slightly. "Well, I wanted a snack and I had to stretch my legs."

Lita snickered. "Yeah. She came back _covered_ in soda."

Rei smiled sweetly at Lita, furious that her alibi had been 'called,' and that she'd lost her captive audience to her own imperfections. "Thank you, Leets. I'm sure they really benefited from that bit of info."

Ami and Maura were shaking with suppressed laughter. They hid it well, though, and Rei grabbed her moment back in the spot light again.

          "I bet you anything he asks her out on a date." She finished smugly, crossing her arms to reinforce her point.

There was silence in the group and then, they all leaned into the direction of the door, trying to eavesdrop.

…

          "**_What_**?!"

All eyes swiveled accusingly towards Rei.

She shrugged nervously, "or he could have just asked her to marry him."

***

          "**_What_**?!" She yelled, blue eyes flashing in shock.

          "Serena, _please_!!" Darien gripped his head. "This is a small room."

          "Oh. Sorry."

He made a dismissive gesture. "It's okay. Now. Do you understand what you have to do?"

She nodded slowly. "Mina… I have to be Mina." She spoke as if in a daze.

He walked away from her and to the other end of the room, bracing his arms on the end of the conference table. When he felt controlled enough to answer, his eyes raised to meet hers.

          "Yes. I need you—_we_ need you—to take Mina's pace as the star model in the show." He risked a glance at her. So far she was accepting that. _Good._ "Without Mina, they'll cancel they show—something we cannot do."

She nodded again, as if in agreement, and then asked, "Why?"

          "Why?" He repeated, confused. 

          "Yeah. _Why_ can't we just cancel the show?"

Darien's eyes seemed to shift away from hers. "Well… because… well, there's a lot of money at stake here."

Blonde hair falling free from the loose ponytail she'd put it in, Serena shook her head with a detached sort of smile. "Money… Darien, have you ever thought of doing something like this for charity?" Silence. "I didn't think so." She put a hand up to stop his speech. "_Yes_, I'll be your Mina. _Yes_, I'll do your show. But I want you to at least _consider_ what I've said, okay?"

He sank into the chair behind him, nodding gratefully. "Yes, Serena. I'll think about it."

And he was surprised to find himself meaning it.

***

There was the soft click of a door and Serena stepped out into the lobby quietly. They'd been in the conference room for hours, going over the particulars for her 'disguise.'

Blue eyes tiredly swept the lobby for signs of life, and upon finding none, she sighed. Everyone else had already retired to their rooms… she'd better get up to her own room… wait. 

          "Do I even _have _a room?" 

          "Yes." Darien answered from behind her, also stepping out of the conference room. "You must take Mina's suite."

          "Okay," she agreed with a sigh. "The only problem is, I don't have a… key." She finished, staring down at the key Darien had forced her hand to curl around. "Where is it?" She finally asked, trying to stay awake.

He chuckled softly, and placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the elevator. 

They made their way to the 38th floor—the highest—and he directed her down a long hallway with two doors at opposite ends. They came to one of them, and he slid the key in, then ushered her in.

          "Your luggage should be here already." Silence. "Serena? Serena?"

He reached over to flip the light switch on and something in his face softened as he took in the sight of Serena, sacked out on the monster-sized bed. 

Despite the fatigure that was threatening to overcome him, something tugged at his heart as he saw her breathing peacefully. Again, she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that tomorrow was one of the most important days of her life—and everything depended on her. In sleep, she was just Serena; no fancy titles or last names attached.

If he didn't move her, she was going to have one hell of a sore back tomorrow. And her clothes—well, she'd have to cross that bridge herself. There were some lines he just _wouldn't_ cross.

Darien crossed to the bed and turned down the comforter and sheets on the side she wasn't on. Then, he walked over to he and gently lifted her up into his arms. 

Instinctively, she moved closer to his warmth, and he stood perfectly still until he was convinced he could move without dropping her from shock.

Precision and tenderness evident in his movements, Serena would have been surprised—if she could see—how carefully he was placing her in the bed. 

Once she was settled, with the sheets tucked up to her chin, he sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her longer bangs off her face, running a hand through her blonde hair. Then, he leaned down ever so slowly, and for what seemed like _hours_, his lips hovered over hers. He was about to make his move when she sighed softly, and said, "…Endy…"

The sigh and the name—of whatever it was—was like a whip in the air. He sat up abruptly, breathing as if he'd just sprinted 15 miles.

          "What am I doing?!"

Darien brushed a feverish hand through his hair and, casting one last look at Serena on the bed, opened the door and walked out.

That was why he never heard her mumble, "…Endy… come back."

***

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Now. Don't you just love me? Aren't you SO happy with me?

You have to sit on that for a WHOLE WEEKEND! *sticks out tongue* So **there**.

Now I'm giving you guys orders. .

If you want the next chapter of "Coffee," (11B) which is a MAJOR chapter—the show, the deception—everything—this is what you have to do.

* REVIEW!

* Read "Once Lost, Now Found," and review it. This is a BRANDY NEW STORY and Fleur-chan and I want some reviews, dammit!

* Email me if you're so inclined.

* GO TO THE MESSAGE BOARD AND POST!! I don't care if you post your fanfiction, if you post questions, I DON'T CARE. I JUST WANT YOU TO POST. (http://pub64.ezboard.com/bseaofserenity)

* Join the mailing list (http://groups.yahoo.com/serenity_sea_updatelist) if you haven't already done so.

* Sit and wait until all your fellow readers do the same thing. And then we'll get the chapter out to you.

  
  



	15. 11B: SHOWTIME

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 11 B

*

(**Brief note**: Darien didn't care that she said "Endy" in the last chapter because he didn't know _what_ "Endy" was. He probably thought she said something like "candy." Lol.)

The knocking continued. And pounded on the door until it's abuser gave into yelling. 

          "Minaaaaaa!" Pause. "Mina, open this door!"

Stirring groggily in her sleep, Serena blindly reached out a hand to check the clock and groaned. "This is an ungodly hour to be awake," she threw the covers back and slid out of bed—oh! Soft bed!—and yanked her door open, "AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING POUNDING ON MY DOOR???!!!"

Belatedly, Rei lowered her hand from the air. Then she peered in close to scrutinize her face. "**_Somebody_** got in late last night. Are you okay?"

This was it. It was now or never. If she couldn't fool Rei into thinking she was Mina, there was no hope for the known media.

Serena gave her a long look and took a deep breath. "Yeah… I'm okay. I _did_ get in late last night," she admitted, "and Andrew really didn't want me to go."

The raven-haired secretary patted her on the shoulder and gently pushed her into the suite. "Well, that's why you have me, Meens. It's time to get you beautified. You have a 30-minute practice session and then you're on that runway, baby!"

Serena paled. "30 minutes; that's it? Do I always do this?" She mumbled under her breath.

Rei, of course, caught what she said. "Meens—you crack me up. Of _course_ you always do it this way. In fact, I was surprised when Darien pushed it back so you _could_ practice beforehand." She laughed. "Why, I don't remember the last time you practiced."

The blonde smiled weakly. "Of—of course. What was I thinking?"

***

          "Ok-ay people—let's get those lights up over here—put that backdrop here—get polish on this runway, it's lookin' kinda ROUGH here," he said, stamping his foot to emphasize his point. Then he glanced at the men carrying the backdrop and growled. "**_NO!_**—not there! **Here**," he said, pointing in the other direction.

The backdrop men gave him a wary look and moved in the direction he ordered.

Darien shoved a hand through his hair and swallowed back a frustrated groan. He turned his back to the arena and faced the black opaque curtain that would hide the models and the crew later. That was why he never heard someone come up behind him.

          "Tough morning, Darien?" Ami asked from behind him, pushing the Starbucks cup into his hands.

He frowned, realizing everything hinged on Serena's accurate portrayal of Mina. "You don't know the half of it," he finally answered.

There was a crash to their right and Ami winced, knowing he was about to blow.

          "HEY! _Watch that backdrop!_"

***

          "So Mina… where's Serena? Doesn't she want to wake up and see the show?"

Serena stared ahead at the brass elevator doors. Automatically, she reached a hand up to touch her hair, but remembered the last time she'd done that, Rei had swatted her with the hairbrush.

          "Mina?" She asked, waving a hand in front of her face. 

Startled, Serena jumped back and blinked a few times before she looked at Rei. "I'm sorry Rei, what did you say?"

Rei looked at her curiously. "I said, where's Serena? Did she sleep in the first day of the show?"

Serena bit her lip. '_Better make this good, Serena.'_ "Darien asked her to go home last night. So she did."

The dark-haired woman looked outraged. "What!? He can't do that!"

Serena shook her head sadly, and looked away to hide the grin on her face. '_That's payback for my wakeup call at 5:30 this morning, buddy._' "Yes. He can. And he did. I'm still upset with him."

Rei sniffed disdainfully and put her arm around Serena. "Well, I would be too. No wonder you're so spaced out this morning."

The blonde laughed. "Are you kidding me, Rei? I'm _always_ like this before a show!"

          "That's true…" 

They exited the elevator and headed for a small table that was housing an array of beverages. Each woman poured herself a cup of coffee.

Serena noticed that Rei looked like she wanted to say something and couldn't. "Rei. What is it?"

She sighed. "Well, it's just that… well, I was trying to set Serena up with Darien," Serena choked on her coffee and spewed it all over the place, thus ensuring that she lacked coffee for the morning, but waved Rei to go on, "but now that he's sent her home and been such a jerk… I wouldn't help him if you paid me a million dollars."

With what she hoped was a convincing smile, Serena nodded. "Oh… that's great."

***

A short man with glasses complete with a balding head and clipboard was walking around the dressing area. "5 minutes to Showtime, people, 5 minutes."

"LAST CALL FOR ALL MODELS TO REPORT TO THE DRESSING ROOMS. ALL MODELS PLEASE ERPORT TO THE DRESSING ROOMS AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU."

The Amazon beauty stood tall, trying to locate the show's star. Always, they had sat and talked for the countdown before she went on and opened the show. "Dammit… where is she?"

A yelp that sounded a lot like Serena sounded to her right and she shoved aside makeup artists and other middles to get there. What sigh beheld her, however, was something she was totally unprepared for.

Mina was looked outraged as makeup artists worked on her face while some one tried to stick silicone in the front of her …ahem…dress.

Surprised, Lita asked, "Mina? What are you doing?"

Her sky blue eyes flashed dangerously, looking darker in her anger, "Do you see what they're trying to do to me?! They want to put these **_things_** down my dress! I have a very nice chest, thankyouverymuch! This is an insult!"

The brunette sighed heavily and walked over to the poor women trying to put the silicone in. "Okay guys—let a pro do this." She looked into Mina's eyes. "Now I know you always hated this part-but the fashions you're modeling today and tomorrow flatten you. _Entirely_. And you hate that as much as the next woman. So put these in," she handed them to Mina, who grimaced and slipped them in the front of her dress, "and we'll all be happy. You okay?" She asked, touching Mina's face. "You feel a little warm."

          "I guess I'm just nervous."

Lita chuckled. "Meens—you've done this how many times now?—fake boobs and all—though you've never put up quite a fight before—the only thing that's different is that Serena's supposed to be here and she left. Rei told me all about it," she added conspiratorially.

Serena paled. "Yeah… he's a jerk. I really wanted her to come."

          "We all did," Lita said, slinging an arm around her. "She's a fireball—but I will say this—get her her coffee or be prepared to face the consequences."

A lightening bolt went over Serena's head. "COFFEE!!" She exclaimed. "I need my coffee! That's what I forgot this morning!"

          "Looks like Serena rubbed off on you." Lita said, as she dodged a flustered makeup artist. "Better let these people finish you up. See you on the runway."

          "No—Lita, I need my coffee!"

          "There's no time," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the sea of makeup artists, clothing racks, and half naked models.

The blonde slumped down in her stool and let the flurry of last minute primping continue. "I can't do this. I _need_ my coffee. I haven't had anything to eat yet this morning and I need… I need to calm down and get over it."

And then, all at once, it had started. Modesty was completely shot to hell as people around her ripped off the robe she was wearing, shimmed her into the dress, and hiked it up to tie on the stiletto she was slated to wear. There was a lat minute hair-brushing, a loose powder application, and she nearly sneezed. Then—like a magic trick—they had all disappeared.

She was all alone except for Mr. Dior, who was waiting for her patiently.

          "Miss Mina?" Serena looked up. "We're ready for you."

***

The lighting was intense. There was a sea of faces all around. A huge voice that wasn't hers boomed, "And now—the principal model of Shields Modeling and Co.—Miss Mina Fuentes!"

Someone gave her a shove and she stepped onto the center of the platform. 

'_Breathe, Serena, breathe. You can do this. You **have** done this. Remember Darien back in Manhattan?_'

That brought a smile to her face and she broke rule number 1 of modeling: _Show no expression_.

She took a few more wobbly steps and broke rule number 2_: Do not make eye contact with the press_.

The flash caused her to take a few steps back and flinch—she almost tripped—but righted herself and kept going. When she got to the end of the catwalk, she turned, stepped and turned again. She made it halfway back before she broke rule number 3, the most important of them all:

_Don't ever faint._

***

He watched her like a hawk, wincing when she winced, flinching when she did. When she made her turns on the end, he felt a little light-headed. And then he knew.

          "Oh my god. She's going to faint."

Darien pushed by Mr. Dior, jumped over a makeup cart, shoved the oncoming model aside… and made it just in time to catch her before she fell.

***

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Well? What did you think?? Pretty nice ending, there, huh? Um, okay, this may come as somewhat of a shock to you guys, but try and remember the power of patience. (Who I am kidding, I'm the least patient person alive!)

I will be on vacation… until April 15th. So this is your SUPER HUGE UPDATE until then. And it was a good chapter, wasn't it? *pokes readers in their sides* Come on, you know it was.

*Laughs*

Okay. My editor/ Fleur, is ALSO on vacay NOW, so I'm going a bit kooky. See what happens when I have nobody to make me work?

Hope you guys all have an AWESOME spring break if you haven't had it yet—like me. And rest assured that I will be bringing this with me to Hawaii… for 2 LOOOOOOONG weeks of fun in the sun.

  
  



	16. 12A

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 12 A 

*

"_I need a paramedic!_"

"_Get her an ambulance!_"

"_NO! Would you be quiet! She just needs to rest!_"

Soft. She had landed on something soft. The voices reverberated inside her head and she turned in her sleep uneasily, trying to shut them out.

***

The beads swayed precariously on the bodice of her dress, seconds before she herself went down. Miraculously, Darien was there to catch her, and catch her he did, before feeling a wave of protectiveness crash over him. Reason and logical thought kicked in seconds later and he stood, cradling her form in his arms and walked off the stage.

The lighting and special effects guy remembered to turn out the lights and pandemonium erupted as the convention center was pitched into black. Loud strains of English clashing with Italian could be heard even behind the curtains, where the fallen model and her boss had taken refuge.

~*~

Rei, who had watched the whole thing from a wing on the stage, rushed over to Darien's side. "IS she okay? Is she all right?" The chatter from the people around her mad it impossible for Darien to reply. She turned her head to the side and opened her mouth wide, "QUIET!"

Dead silence.

"Okay people, I need the in house doctor, I need some cold water and towels from housekeeping across the street, I need a telephone and I need it NOW!"

The small mass of people stared at her blankly before rushing into action. She was turning back to Darien when the noise level started rise higher and higher, to precarious heights, and she yelled again, "AND KEEP IT QUIET!"

Silence again reined supreme and whispered conversations now overtook the room. A single glare from the dark-haired secretary shut them up to speechlessness.

"Now," Rei turned back to Darien, staring critically at him, "You should let us put her down somewhere so you can call Andrew and tell him what happened to Mina; he's going to be _pissed_. I should have made her eat something this morning, I knew it. I just knew it." She grabbed his arm and started to drag him down the hallway where the dressing rooms were; Mina's was the last one, the largest, and all the way at the end.

Halfway there, he started to protest. "No, no. No, Rei, you don't understand. She has to be seen by a private doctor."

She stared at him strangely. "The media is going to be all over your ass and you're worried about the credentials of her doctor? I give you credit. However, I don't care if you're feeling guilty or not—if the in-house is here first, that's who she gets seen by. She needs medical attention. End of story." 

"Rei, you don't get it. The newspapers will eat this alive if they find out from some in-house doctor with a loose tongue."

"You know how I just said I didn't give you enough credit?" He nodded. "Well, I take it back. It would seem that you're being petty enough to only worry about what the media will think—much less Andrew and the people who love her. By the way, just what are you talking about? Models faint all the time. It happens."

"This isn't Mina."

"_Really?_ No kidding!" She snapped. "Mina's still with Andrew, thousands of miles away." Darien held his breath and wondered if she was speaking figuratively or literally. Heedless, Rei continued, "Her mind and heart wasn't in this today—that's why she passed out. Well, that and a lack of nourishment and sleep."

He groaned and shifted Serena's weight, power-walking to keep up with Rei's furious pace. "No. This _isn't_ Mina."

She stopped suddenly and put her right hand on his arm. "Yeah. I got that already. Maybe… maybe we should get _you _some medical attention."

"THIS IS SERENA!" He roared, shaking her hand off his arm.

And again, the malady of silence struck the crew behind the scenes. With Rei openmouthed and staring, the rest of the crew stock-still, he weakly added, "—'s first show… this is Serena's first show… and it's a shame she had to miss it." He turned to Rei. "Right, Rei?" Darien asked encouragingly.

"…Right…" She answered dazedly before snapping back into action, commanding people what to do, and yanking him inside the dressing room. 

"Just WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???!" 

He gently placed Serena on the couch and turned to see 128 pounds of pissed off (former) temple priestess nearly on top of him. Darien sidestepped her and started to walk out. His hand was on the doorknob and his back was to her when he said, "Take care of her, Rei. You know who she is now. Don't tell **_anyone_**. I'll be back for her later."

And he walked out.

***

(Later…)

"Ohhh my god. Did I really faint on the runway?" Slowly, Serena sat up and pushed back so she could lean against the headboard.

"Yes, you certainly did."

She snatched the sheet from the bed and yanked it up to cover herself. And there, she had a front-row view to see Darien shields getting up off the couch—which was why she hadn't noticed him before—he was hidden from view.

Serena's face was—by degrees—going further and further into shock, and all that stumbled out was gibberish. He waited patiently until she regained her speech and was surprised by her first question.

"_You_ saw that?"

Darien laughed. "You don't remember what happened? I was the one who—" He saw the look on her face and quickly went on. "I was watching you from the sides and I saw you start to wobble. I jumped over a makeup cart and Mr. Dior to catch you just before you kissed the catwalk. Rei waited with you when the doctors checked you out and I brought you back up to my room… they said not to leave you unsupervised in case something went wrong."

For the first time, Serena allowed her eyes to wander around the fine room and she realized the luxurious glow it seemed to give off—very different from Mina's—or at least what she had _seen_ in Mina's during her 1 AM-stupor. When her eyes reached Darien, she realized he was waiting for her to speak.

"I… um… thank you for catching me. I don't even want to imagine what the press is doing with this, they must be having a field day, and—are those fresh roses?"

Darien wondered about her mental state right now, because she wasn't putting two sentences together. Actually, she wasn't even paying attention to him. Like a child in a trance, she gently tugged at the sheet so that it preserved her modesty, and started to wander around the room.

When she reached the magnificent crystal vase of 72 roses, she inhaled and nearly swooned at the scent. Gently pulling one out, so as to smell it better, her knees started to wobble. A memory—not her own; or was it?—slammed into her, and she felt herself falling—again—unable to stop.

Before she could blink, much less hit the ground, Darien was at her side, preventing her fall once more. While her eyes were screwed shut, a view of a man—tall, face hidden in the shadows, smelling and shrouded by roses—was calling to her.

Now, whether the scent of Darien did her in, or the fact that the rose she held was up between their bodies, engulfing them with its smell, they'd never know. But the name hit her like a sledgehammer and she cried out—"Endymion!"

Then her body went limp in his arms and he carried her back to the bed.

For a long time, Darien would sit by her side and wonder, (with a tinge of jealousy) who this "Endymion" was, and just what he did to deserve her.

As the sun finally set on what had been a physically and emotionally draining day for all parties, the last beams of sunlight filtered in on Darien's fingers… they were stroking the blonde tresses of Serena's hair.

***

(The next day, in America.)

"She fainted."

"**_What_**?"

Mina stared disbelievingly at the paper in her hands before meeting Andrew's green eyes. The headline screamed '!' She sank back against the headboard of their bed for support. _How did this happen?_

He leaned over and put an arm around her shoulder. "Meens. How long have we known Serena for? A long time, right?" She nodded. "Then you know she's not going down without a fight. She will win those people over until the only ting they can think of is her—not her past."

The blonde woman leaned into him and yielded, "It's not that I'm worried about my career," Andrew squeezed her lightly and she admitted, "—well, okay, just a _little _bit—but what if after everything we did, nothing happens between them? Like we did all of it for nothing."

Andrew shook his head and sat her down on the bed, leaning to look into her eyes. "Remember what I said about Serena's ability to win people over. Darien doesn't stand a chance." He walked around to his side, climbed in, and reached for her under the covers. She fit against him the way she always did; just right. One of his arms reached over and flicked out the light while Mina settled in his arms to get comfortable.

But oh, dear readers, if they only knew just how true his words were. Darien Shields didn't stand a chance against Serena Cohen. Not since she'd run into him seven years ago.

Literally.

***

We are having another break from school, and as a result, I won't be writing. I won't even be near a computer for the first 2 weeks in May, as a matter of fact, but that's an entirely different story. This is why I've posted such crucial updates now, instead of making you wait until May 15th. (kind of like April 15th, but… yeah.)

If you really do care, fill up my inbox with emails and web pages with reviews and the message board (http://pub64.ezboard.com/bseaofserenity/) with posts.

NEVER FEAR! CHAPTER 12 B IS HERE!


	17. 12B: RATED R

**How About a Cup of Coffee?**

Chapter 12 B 

(This chapter is rated R, kiddies. It contains some material that may not be suitable for children under 14. Please use discretion when reading… there is a sex scene, people. It's not _too_ graphic—but it's there. If you're underage—don't read this, and don't say I didn't warn you.)

*

Serena awoke to the feeling of golden warmth all around her. She opened her eyes and attributed the goldenness to the fact that the sun was on her, and the warmth to… _wait a second. What **was**__ the warmth from_? She had barely enough room to turn over when she discovered what the warmth was.

Darien Shields, sleeping like a baby, right next to her.

She didn't need a mirror to know she was blushing profusely. Stealthily, she crept out of his bed, located a thick robe in the closet and ambled out the door.

***

It was a stroke of luck—pure luck—that housekeeping was about to work on her room. As soon as they saw her, they shouted surprised exclamations in Italian, so she couldn't understand, and fled the hallway quickly. She had just enough time to sprint and catch the door from closing without her inside.

Once there, she took refuge on her soft, enormous bed; it wasn't that she was scared, she just wasn't sure how much longer her legs would hold her. Instinct made her curl up and draw the covers around her; she fell into an easy sleep, and that was why she never saw the pale violet glow that surrounded her body and healed every bruised inch on her.

***

When she woke up again, some one was playing with her hair. She turned over to see soft purple eyes looking at her, framed by long black hair.

"Hey, sleepyhead. How ya feeling? Darien asked me to check on you."

Her tongue lay thick in her mouth and before she asked, Rei handed her a glass of water. Gratefully, she swallowed it, nearly all of it, and was able to answer her as she placed the glass on the nightstand. "I'm okay. Thanks for the water. What time is it?"

"Nearly 7." Serena frowned. "PM. It's nearly 7 at night—you slept for a looooong time. I thought it was only fair not to wake you this time."

As she said this, the frown reached Serena's eyes and the blonde wondered why she was talking about sleep when Mina ordinarily woke at dawn. At a lack for anything else to say, she reached for the water again, and downed the rest of it.

"Serena, it's—"

The water spewed straight out of her mouth and nearly drenched Rei. Serena's blue eyes were wide as Rei feebly finished what she had been saying.

"…okay to be upset about what happened." (AN: Poor Rei-chan. She just keeps getting wet with these beverages.)

Her heart was pounding in her chest when she attempted to play off as Mina, "What are you talking about, Rei? Serena went home."

The darker woman reached for a towel and started to dry herself off, rolling her eyes. "Serena, I know it's you. Darien told me himself."

"Oh."

"Yeah, '_oh_'." Rei mocked. "You don't sound to thrilled to be yourself right about now. If it were me, I'd be glad that someone else knew what the heck I was hiding. That's one hell of a secret, girlfriend."

She sank back onto the pyramid of pillows. "It is. I am. I mean, it is a big secret to keep quiet and I'm glad you know—but what if someone else finds out? The company's rep could be trashed, not to mention Mina's. I have to get back out there and fix what I've done wrong—if I don't she can kiss modeling goodbye."

Rei's eyebrows rose to a maximum skeptical height. "You just passed out on the catwalk and now you want to get right back out there? This does not sound like the Serena I used to know."

Serena smiled bitterly. "Well, that Serena wailed and complained just to get attention. This Serena—the Americanized Serena—is a totally competent woman, one who can clean up her messes by herself. And with a bit of panache."

It was useless to fight her, Rei recognize determination when she saw it, and flopped back on the bed next to Serena. "Well, if you're sure that's what you want to do…"

"It is."

"Then… I'll help you anyway I can."

Serena's muffled voice floated over to her. "Thanks. And Rei?"

"Yeah?"

"Be quiet. I have to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

The bed shook slightly as Rei silently laughed into her pillow.

***

Shields Modeling and Co. had no comment for Serena's fall, only to justify that it was from poor health and that the show would be resuming in a day. 

No one questioned this motion to continue the show, just as no one questioned their lack of attention to a story that the Pappa Razzi would just _love_ to pick apart. Without a statement, however, there really wasn't much to say, and since the show was going to start up again, the buzz died unexpectedly quick.

Rei, Darien and Mr. Dior were the only ones who knew Serena's true identity. A few people were wary, but had no idea to the extent of the deception. While the convention center was closed for the two days that she spent recuperating, and Serena set up a catwalk of glass coffee tables to practice on in her suite, a gutsy blonde model started to do some of her own investigating. 

***

The company fully stood behind her in her move to keep modeling and backed her in every way that they could. That, however, did not ease the butterflies in Serena's stomach.

For once again, she was sitting in the high stool, surrounded by makeup artists and hairdressers. Déjà vu stuck her like a quick blow to the gut, so fiercely she almost doubled over.

The artist working on her eyes gently forced them closed and started brushing powder on them. She heard someone sit down in front of her and they began working on her cheeks ever so gently. 

Ravenna, the man who was blowing out her spun-gold hair, stepped back and clapped. "Magnifique. She iz all yurrs, Mistaire Shields."

Her green-accented eyelids flew open. Sure enough, Darien was sitting in front of her, calmly brushing color on her cheeks.

"Re-lax." He put the brush away and began on some loose powder. The dust got into her nose and she was about to sneeze when he put his finger under it, effectively canceling it. That struck her as an incredibly intimate moment and she tried to scoot back in the stool.

He shook his head, stood up, and braced his arms on either side of her body. "Would you calm down? It was just powder. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Her makeup-darkened eyebrow rose. "Then why are you here?"

"To wish you good luck. Except you don't need it. You'll do fine."

"I'm so glad at least _one _of us has such faith in me." Serena retorted sarcastically.

Darien turned around and grabbed something on a cart behind him. "Here," he said, thrusting the warm cardboard cup into her hands. "Thought you might need it."

Her sleepy smile warmed his heart. "Oooh, Starbucks. No imitation stuff either—this is the real deal." She sipped and groaned appreciatively. "Thanks. Let's just hope I don't faint today."

"You won't." He said with conviction—so firm that she knew she didn't dare.

"ALL MODELS REPORT TO THE WINGS FOR COUNTDOWN TO THE SHOW. ALL MODELS, PLEASE REPORT FOR A HEADCHECK AT THIS TIME. AND MISS FUENTES… MAKE SURE YOU GO EASY ON THAT FIRST TIME OUT."

Serena blushed and the entire cast and crew in the area laughed. The clothing designers came over and Darien took that as his cue.

"I'm going to go… but I'll be watching. Don't mess up, okay?"

"Okay," she laughed, and automatically stuck every appendage on her body out so that the designers could reach it more easily. 

***

They say that third time's the charm. Well, we never made it to the third time…

… Because the second time went off without a single hitch!

Serena worked that catwalk like no one's ever seen—and a completely different side of her—and Mina—was revealed that day. She was more personable, reacting better to smaller groups of people than an overall crowd.

And successfully modeling 17 outfits without a solitary mistake was quite a boost to her ego. Though unexpected, she called for the rest of the models at the end of the show and they all stood on the catwalk and waved goodnight. Lita took her place at Serena's side and they were the last two exiting the stage.

A beaming grin could be seen on Darien's face as he watched her; a grin that was about to get even bigger at the after-party later that night.

Madison noticed that grin the entire show. At first, she had been watching to see if he noticed her. He hadn't. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off Mina Fuentes. Now, there was something about her today—something different than usual—and she just seemed to soak up every inch of space in the entire area. But the days for Darien and Mina were long gone. Now that Mina was dating Mr. Tel, of course. And Darien would never go after Mina while Andrew was away.

Which was why she suspected foul play.

There were a few people who didn't question Mina's strange habits over the past few days, and one of them was Darien. He was out of the question to ask. Mr. Dior; no, he was loyal to Darien. Rei, lately, had seemed to cater more to Mina's needs—but she was close to Darien, Mina, _and _Andrew, so that was a moot point.

Which left the convention manager, Mr. Cornell. 

He'd definitely noticed something. 

***

(This is the scene—skim or don't read. You can read the _very _last scene, but other than that, you're not missing anything.)

Jack Cornell sat in the leather-backed chair of his meager office and sighed. Mr. Shields had promised to deliver… and he had—but only after a near mishap that had nearly cost them the entire show. The cash was still flowing, so he supposed that there was no real reason to be obsessing about it… but he was an obsesser and that's what he did.

A light knock on his door pulled him away from these thoughts and without turning around, he said, "Come in," and continued working. The calendar was nearly filled for the rest of the month—when people had heard that the famous modeling company was here; they wanted to book their events here, too, and—_whoa. _

Soft hands landed on his neck and started to massage his shoulders sensuously. With a weak smile, he turned his desk chair around and saw a blonde woman standing there, squeezed in a dark blue mini-dress that wasn't too hard on the eyes. Not to hard on the legs, either, he thought as he gave her more than the necessary once over.

"Can I help you, Miss…"

"Madison. And yes, I think you can. But first, let _me_ help you." She immediately plopped down into his lap and started removing his tie. "Mr. Cornell… I need some information. Some information I think you…" she licked her lips and then teasingly kissed him on the cheeks. "… have."

"Uh… uh, I would love to help you in any way I can, but," he stuttered, simply entranced by this woman and what she was doing to him.

She ripped off his shirt with a growl. "I know it's confidential… but just think of all the people who deserve to know…" Madison lowed her head and, hidden by a curtain of blonde hair, kissed him nearly senseless. Then, reaching back, removed her own jacket and shirt so that she was straddling him in her bra—which really didn't need any further prompting.

"To—to know…" He threw his head back to allow her easier access. 

For the clincher line, she needed to have his full attention. Making sure his eyes were following her every move, she took his hand in hers and used his two fingers to unclasp her bra. Now, completely sure that he was totally occupied, she dug her butt into his lap even further and said, "That Mina… is a fake. That wasn't Mina up there today, was it? Who was it? Come on. Tell me. Please?" Her full red lips pouted.

He was caught. Honestly, he was. "It… it was…" she moved his hand so he could cup one of her breasts, and watched as he nearly groaned in satisfaction. The words suddenly came pouring out. "—It was Serena Cohen, her cousin. Mina isn't even _in_ Europe; she's back in America with her Mr. Tel. They lied to me the first night they were here, but after she fainted, Darien came and told me and now—"

Madison closed her bra deftly, sat up and disengaged herself from his grasp. She slung her jacket on quickly and smoothed down her clothes while Jack sat, eyes closed, hands stretched out reaching for her.

"It's been nice, Mr. Cornell… but somehow, I just don't think my boss would appreciate this. Time to go. And you were a real hero today. More than you know."

Hips swinging provocatively, she opened the door, and waltzed out, leaving him staring after where she'd exited… and wondering what the hell had just happened. For some reason, he had a sinking feeling that he gave away some _very_ important information.

***

(This scene closely mirrors a cliffhanger from the Hell's Huntress' "Got Milk." I would just like to say that I'm not plagiarizing, and that she gets properly recognized.)

Madison closed the door to her hotel room with a slam and flung herself on the bed. "I knew it—I just _knew_ it! I knew that skank wasn't Mina! Mina Fuentes would never, _ever_ faint on the catwalk. She'd jump into the crowds, completely naked first." She leaned over to grab a day-planner off the nightstand, while reaching for the phone in her other hand.

It was open to the 'N's when someone on the other line finally picked up.

"Hello, New York Times? Alicia Kraft, please." There was a pause as she was reconnected. "Hey 'Licia. It's Maddy. Have I got the story for you."

***

DUN DUN DUN!!!!

And now, the clincher—

We are having another break from school, and as a result, I won't be writing. I won't even be near a computer for the first 2 weeks in May, as a matter of fact, but that's an entirely different story. This is why I've posted such crucial updates now, instead of making you wait until May 15th. (kind of like April 15th, but… yeah.)

If you really do care, fill up my inbox with emails and web pages with reviews and the message board (http://pub64.ezboard.com/bseaofserenity/) with posts.


	18. 13A: Afterparty and then some

**How About A Cup of Coffee?**

**Chapter 13A**  
  
(You might want to download Dido's "Resting Here with Me" for this chapter.)

*

The ivory card lay heavily in her hand like an anvil. She stared down at the black ink like it was written in human blood. 

_Serena-_

_Come with me to the dance tonight? Pick you up at 7._

_-Darien_

After the show was over, she and Lita had hugged for about two seconds and then parted, to rest and shower. So Serena had headed up to her room and made a beeline for the closet while thinking of what she was going to wear for the celebratory after-party. There was one dress… 

She helped herself to one of the robes and blushed when she noticed that the robe from Darien's room was still in there. Then she went over to sit on her bed and rest her eyes. Except, in mid-recline, she'd encountered something stiff. She rolled over and that was when she found the card that was now sitting in her hand. 

He really hadn't left room for argument about what time to pick her up. And it almost annoyed her that he assumed she'd go. Well, of course she'd go with him, it was just now she had to change her entire outfit. 

And that was a chore in itself. 

A smile formed on her lips as a thought came to her mind. There _were_ advantages of being one of the most beautiful women in the world…

Still smiling, she sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up her phone, waiting for the person on the other line to answer. When they did, she had a brief conversation and hung up the phone with a wide grin on her face.

Then she made her second call, and her smile slowly fell. She nodded, and resolutely made a promise. Then she went to go unlock the door and hopped in the shower.

***

(15 minutes later, outside the bathroom…)

          "Rei, I don't see why we're here when Mina's showering. It's not like she hasn't done this before." Lita glared at her.

Ami nodded reluctantly. "Yes, and we all know how capable she is of applying her makeup…"

          "GUYS!" Rei shouted, cutting off further protests. "She needs us. She needs us because it's not Mina in there!" She quieted. "It's Serena."

Lita leaned on the glass table of the sitting room off Serena's bedroom. "Are you serious?"

Rei sat back in her chair heavily. "Yes. Darien told me a few days ago."

          "Wow." Ami blinked. "What does this mean?"

The dark-haired beauty reached over and put a hand on her forehead. "You know, for being someone who I consider exceedingly sharp, you certainly are thick when it comes to something like this."

Ami bristled. "Rei, I know what it means, I just…" The implication of what Rei was saying sunk in. "This is unreal. Unbelievable. That's why she—"

Rei nodded. 

Ami was floored. When Rei had called them 20 minutes ago, telling them to meet her at Mina's suite, she had expected something less… earth-shattering. This was definitely one for the records. "Wow. Just… wow." 

That being said, they looked over to Lita to see how she was taking it. Other than her initial comment, they really didn't know how she felt.

Lita was sitting there dumbly, watching something. They turned to see what she was staring at.

Serena had stepped out of the shower, her hair wet and down, wrapped in a thick blue robe. She looked _exactly_ like Mina. 

          "You told them?" She asked Rei, walking over to where were and taking a seat.

          "Yep."

The blonde sighed and let her glance linger on each of her friends sitting at the round table. "Look, you guys. I did this as a favor for Darien. Mina's staying with Andrew, nothing's wrong, and so far, I've managed to clean up her rep pretty well. All that's left tonight is that dinner party – then we head home and Mina will once again resume her position as principal model for the company. I would just like to get through tonight without any problems. And I'd like to have someone on _my_ side for once… and not Mina's. _That_ is why I told you."

Lita stared at her in silence. Ami looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't know what, and opened her mouth a couple of times before closing it for good. Rei looked at them, looked at Serena, shook her head, and put a hand over her eyes.

          "Guys?" Serena questioned, standing up and walking over to them. Lita tackled her quite suddenly. "EEP! HELP!" Her arms wrapped around her tightly and then Ami ran around the side of them and got into the hug, too. "Oh… okay… group hug… I got it." They were swaying back and forth and then they fell over, onto the bed.

The fingers spread on Rei's hand and she gazed them wistfully when Ami's hand rose out of the pile and waved her over. With a grin on her face, she got ready to jump on top of Lita, started to walk over.

Serena popped her head up for a second and saw the evil look in her eyes. "No, Rei… **_NO!_** I need air! Help!"

No one heard her cry of help… for she was suddenly muffled by an onslaught of pillows.

*** 

Darien made sure he knocked promptly at seven. Of course, she didn't answer the door right away, and judging from the colorful phrases he heard from within, he guessed some things would never change. Serena being late would be one of them. 

He listened carefully for the padding of her feet to the doorway and held the bouquet of roses in his hands straighter. Suddenly, as if he hadn't waited any time at all, the door swung open… 

Revealing Rei, Lita and Ami. 

The building smile on his face fell.

Rei, in a thin, purple silk dress, smirked. "Jeez, Darien. Tell us how you really feel." 

Darien flushed, "I'm sorry Rei. I was expecting…" 

"—we know who you were expecting," Lita saved him from further speech by cutting in. "And she'll be right out. A few last minute changes, you know how it is." Lita herself was looking magnificent in a floor-length green dress that was accented by green rhinestones of various shades. 

He smiled easily. "Well then. May I just say that you ladies are looking wonderful tonight." 

Rei and Lita rolled their eyes and Ami giggled. "Thank you, Darien. I'm sure Greg would appreciate the sentiment." 

Darien shrugged but thought that Greg would appreciate Ami's ice-blue mini-dress. "Why don't you go make your way down while I wait for Serena?" 

Lita, none too subtlety, elbowed Rei. She shot her a glare, but collected her things and grabbed Ami's arm, dragging her out of the room. The brunette grinned at him and followed them at an amazingly fast pace. He walked in the room and settled down to wait. 

Except he didn't have to wait long.

The rustle of a full dress sounded from behind him and he turned to see Serena. Well, at least he thought it was Serena, but he wasn't sure because she looked so incredibly beautiful in her dress. 

Darien, somewhat slack-jawed, rose and robotically handed her the flowers. "You look… amazing." 

And she did. Her gown – because full and floor length, that's what it was – was pure white that colored to a pale ice blue at the bottom of her full skirt. The fitted bodice of her dress was held up by two thin straps of what appeared to be crystals and she had a small drop necklace and matching bracelet to complete the effect. Her hair, completely down, cascaded in waves and curls like a mermaid's and crystals were intermittently woven throughout. 

Crystal seemed to be the theme of the evening because she was pretty much covered with them. 

But what really made her incredible that evening was her smile. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It lit up the room with wattage to spare. And it was directed at him.

          "We should probably go," she started, and he nodded slowly. 

          "Yes. We probably should." He gave her his elbow and she took it with a smile.

They headed down the hallway and entered the elevator, both of them unable to keep their eyes off each other.

***

The hotel staff had spared a few of their doormen to stand in as guards and generally rope off the area. They opened the doors and it was all she could do not to gasp. Serena had to give Darien credit – when he wanted an after-party for his models, he went all out.

The ballroom was beautiful. There were lights hanging everywhere, and candles covered all the tables. In the center of the room was a marble dance floor, but no one was dancing at this time. There was a big white table at the head of the room and Serena instinctively knew that was where they were headed.

As the spotlights hit them and people saw who had just walked in, cheers went up in the room and people stood up in respect for their boss and most successful model. Darien was careful not to stand too close to Serena or guide her over to the table, since she was supposed to know how these things were done already.

Amidst more cries of success and wild applause, they finally took their seats. Serena blushed and he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek and pulled out her chair for her to sit down in. Stunned, she reached a hand up to touch her cheek where she'd finally felt his lips on her skin. Darien winked at her roguishly and then held a hand for silence.

          "I would like to thank _all_ of you for your constant support during these last few days. Our company saw some hard times but I'm pleased to say we've more than picked up slack and are now the biggest modeling company in the WORLD."

Pandemonium erupted. All Hell broke loose. Serena glanced at Darien apologetically before breaking into a whoop and little dance that was _completely_ out of character for her. Several minutes later, after Darien had held his hand up for the duration and it was feeling like it was going to fall off, near-silence had regained the upper-hand in the ballroom and he cleared his throat to begin again.

          "As I was saying. So you all deserve this. Enjoy your night people. I'll see you back home."

A live band, in front of their banquet table, started to play some jazz and waiters appeared to start serving them food.

After all had eaten, and the band was starting to play more upbeat tunes, Darien turned to Serena.

          "Do you want to dance?"

A swing song came on that she knew and so she nodded.

"Let's go." He reached out his hand to her and after a moment's hesitation, she took it. Within seconds, they were on the floor, and dancing to their colleagues' amusement.

Not to be outdone, Rei grabbed the arm of a blonde-haired, green-eyed intern from accounting – by the name of Jed – and dragged him onto the floor to start dancing.

Serena threw her head back and laughed; it was so like Rei to be that way. "She's crazy."

Darien watched with a tender smile on his face. "Yeah, but _we_ started it."

She looked up at him, smiling, with a sparkle to her blue eyes. "Good thing."

Minutes later, nearly _everyone_ was on the floor, and a Brian Setzer song started to blare from the band. 

***

          "Darien…" Serena breathed, trying not to lean on him too heavily, in case anyone was watching. "I have… to get something… to drink… before I… collapse."

He chuckled. "You know, for a model, you need to work on your stamina." She thought he was going to let it go at that, but then saw the twinkle in his blue eyes and steeled herself for the zinger she knew was coming up. "But go ahead. We wouldn't want you to _faint_ or anything," he finished with a devilish grin.

She whacked him on the arm before a smile escaped from her lips as she finally made her way over to their seats to get some champagne.

Heaving sigh, she slumped down in her chair gratefully and drank her entire glass of the bubbling liquid, her nose tickling during the short gulps. When that was gone, she reached for Darien's, but since her thirst was quenched, she drank it in smaller sips.

          "Well, well, look who we have here." A sugary-sweet voice said from behind.

Serena automatically looked up and pasted a smile on her face. "Hello, Madison." 

"Hello, Mina." Maybe if Madison hadn't been quite so drunk she would have noticed the weary tone to her opponent's voice. But she didn't, and would probably be kicking herself for not exploiting that when she had the chance. "You looked like you were having a really good time dancing with Mr. Shields a few minutes ago. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love."

She nearly spilt the glass of champagne all over her dress. Glaring, she stood up and met Madison's eyes. "You must be mistaken. Everyone knows who I love." A slight twinge pulled at her conscience as she realized she'd not spoken Andrew's name, but she pulled back to focus on what Madison was saying.

The showily clad model shrugged. "Just as long as _you_ know who _you_ love." Leaving that cryptic phrase in her mind, she walked until she was out of Serena's line of sight.

She went to lean back against the wall for some rest, and encountered something a bit more giving than she'd expected. Her body tensed and she began to turn around, when someone put a hand on her bare shoulder. 

          "Relax. I just came over to see how you were doing. You had a pretty dangerous look in your eyes when Madison left." Serena managed to turn around and give him a skeptical look. "Serena," he whispered, and she shivered slightly, "if looks could kill, you would have just leveled Europe."

Her eyes widened so much he could see the silver flecks in them.

He smiled gently and took her by the hand to pull her out on the balcony.

Once there, in relative privacy, she broke free of his grip and started pacing. "Darien, what if someone finds out? What if someone already knows and is going to make an announcement at midnight? What if somewhat asks for my autograph and I start to sign 'Serena'? This has gone too well for too long and something's _bound_ to go wrong before we get back home. I can't believe that destiny will be _that_ kind to us."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and what if you fell on your face and die of embarrassment? What if the sun crashes into the moon? Calm _down,_ Meatball Head. _Breathe_, okay?" 

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, was a voice reasoning, '_the sun wouldn't **dare **crash into the moon because the moon is too important_' but she blamed it on all the alcohol she'd drunk so far that evening.

          "Okay." Then another situation came to mind. "What if—"

Darien abruptly cut her off the only way he knew how. He kissed her. Long, deep, and in a way that made her want to melt onto the cobblestone terrace they were standing on.

When he pulled back a few moments later, looking into her eyes and brushing the pads of his thumbs under her eyes, he grinned boyishly at the stunned expression on her face. "It was the only way I could make you stop ranting. You really were on a roll there, Serena."

She blinked a few times. Then she stuck her chin in the air and started to walk away. Darien caught up with her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Not so fast." He leaned down and kissed her a few more times, after that, placing gentle kisses on her bared neck and shoulders.

When he was satisfied that she was _completely_ kissed, his arm fell from around her to rest on her back and he guided her back into the ballroom.

Because they were so preoccupied with each other, they failed to hear the 'click' of a camera. Nor did they see the flash of blonde hair dart behind the bushes, or the clack of stilettos hightailing it out of there.

***

Rei's long violet hair swirled about her as Jed twirled her out again, holding onto her hand and bringing her flush against him. Her eyes flashed dangerously, but he blithely ignored her, going so far as to kiss her on the top of her perfectly-formed nose.

Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Ami frantically waving her over. Idly, she thought it must have been pretty important if _Ami_ was doing something so blatant in public, and if it had come to that, then where the hell was Lit—

          "'Scuse me." Someone tapped Jed's shoulder and they both looked to see Lita standing there, fuming. Rei gulped. "Mind if I cut in?"

Jed's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know you swung _that_ way, Rei."

The raven-haired beauty closed her eyes in humiliation and turned three shades of red. She could hear Jed chuckling as he walked away. When she was sure he'd gone, she clamped onto Lita's arm.

          "And just _what_ was so important that you had my dancing partner question my sexual preferences?"

At the word 'sexual' the entire ballroom froze, the flute player in the band hit a sour note and stopped completely, and everyone was silent.

          "Hey!" She threw her arms up. "Mind your own business!"

Rapidly, the crowd went back to dancing and Rei brushed a hand over her face tiredly. "I hate when that happens. Where's Ami?"

Lita scowled. "Waiting for you to get your butt up there." She grabbed Rei by the wrist and dragged her up a flight of stairs where Ami was waiting, arms folded, leaning against a set of glass doors indolently.

          "Well?" Rei asked.

Ami stood up and unceremoniously shoved her on the upper balcony. Rei stopped herself from flying over the edge just in time—and saw Serena and Darien engaged in quite the kiss.

          "Oh my god." A hand went to her mouth and she paled 10 shades whiter.

          "What?" They asked simultaneously. 

Wordlessly, she beckoned them over.

They arrived to see what Rei had seen and were shocked into speechlessness.

There was a faint click and though Darien and Serena didn't hear it, they looked over in the direction to see Madison looking up at them, grinning.

          "Just wanted to get a group shot, girls." She called up to them after the couple had gone inside. She waggled her fingers and disappeared into the dark night, which suddenly felt much colder.

Angrily, Lita punched the balcony railing, "Dammit! Why can't anything ever go right for them!" Causing Ami to jump in surprise, while Rei merely watched with detachment. "They deserve this." She finished quietly.

Silently, Rei put her hand on the Amazon-like woman's shoulder and walked her towards the doors. "Come on. Let's take a breather."

Which left Ami out there to think about what she'd just witnessed. She the ran the past few days' events through her mind, leading up to tonight's, as of five minutes ago. Her deep blue eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'O' as she stood up from leaning over the balcony railing in realization.

          "She _knew_." Her body stiffened. "I've got to go warn them."

Fluidly, she turned from the rail and raced back inside, hoping to catch them before the evening's end.

***

A passing waiter offered glasses of champagne and Serena twirled away from Darien to grab two, before twirling back into his arms. He plucked his glass from her hand and downed it, while she gaped at him. Then, her eyebrow rose and she tossed hers back just as impressively.

A strange light came into his eyes and he shook his head. Then he reached for her hand and they continued dancing.

The band paused to drink some water, and then the drummer started a slow beat. Slowly, the cymbal was twanged, until the song melted into Dido's "Here With Me." As the song blared into existence, Darien swung Serena out to the middle of the floor and they slowly began the last dance of the evening.

I didn't hear you leave  
I wonder how am I still here  
And I don't want to move a thing   
It might change my memory  
  
Oh I am what I am   
I'll do what I want   
But I can't hide  
I won't go   
I won't sleep   
I can't breathe   
Until you're resting here with me  
I won't leave   
I can't hide   
I cannot be   
Until you're resting here with me  
  
I don't want to call my friends   
They might wake me from this dream  
And I can't leave this bed  
Risk forgetting all that's been  
  
Oh I am what I am   
I'll do what I want   
But I can't hide  
I won't go   
I won't sleep   
I can't breathe   
Until you're resting here with me  
I won't leave   
I can't hide   
I cannot be 

_  
Until you're resting here with me_

The lights blacked out for a second and he dipped briefly to kiss her. By the time the lighting was back, they were out of the room and no one could find them.

***

          "Darien!" Serena yanked on his arm and made him stop. "Just _where_ are we going? We shouldn't have left that party, you know. You're the president of the company. You have to make a parting sp—"

"Speech" was the word she was trying to say, but – yep, you guessed it – Darien had kissed her again, and was effectively keeping her from the action of speaking.

She pushed him back after a while and gave him a dirty look. "You can't keep doing this every time I try to talk."

          "Why not?" he sounded amused. "It's fun. You never remember what you're going to say after."

Sparks flared in her eyes and she glared at him. "Darien. **Stop**. This is ser—"

*kiss*

          "We have to—"

*kiss*

          "Come on, we need to—"

*kiss*

          "Oh, just forget—"

*kiss*

*kiss*

*kiss*

Somehow – though, don't ask them, because they'll never be able to tell you with a straight face – they made it to Darien's room.

He paused from kissing her long enough to stare down into her eyes. She nodded indiscernibly, and whatever he saw in her eyes must have been answer enough for him, because the next thing she knew, he was opening the door and kissing her with all the power of a molten rush.

If their previous kisses had been sweet and tender, then this one was filled with danger and promises. He drew her inside the room and the door closed with a resounding 'click' that they failed to notice since they were *ahem* preoccupied with other matters.

As the last bits of light filtered in from the closing door, Serena found herself thinking that this was the second time she'd been in Darien's bed. 

And then she wasn't really thinking at all.

_Until you're resting here… with me._

***

End 13A

SEE! I TOLD YOU!!! 

And, KISSES! SO THERE! HAH! Now you might just have to wait an eternity for 13B. Or at least until I get 25 or more reviews. You know, to feel loved and stuff.

I dedicate this chapter to the creators of "Superstar" with Molly Shannon. 

          "You want a goodbye **_WHAT_**?"

*is rolling on the floor laughing*

That is… just great. Really lightens the moment. 

And no, I don't have a Dido obsession, I was just listening to the song when I typed it up and wanted to put it in the story because it sounded really nice.


	19. 13B: Truth Hurts

Coffee 13B  
  
(The real author's notes are at the bottom. Just to let you know, I've taken pity on you all and decided to write the next chapter. I really want to wrap this story and focus on other things and. damn. I'm getting ahead of myself again. You may want to download Alicia Keys' "Goodbye" for this. One last thing: DON'T HATE ME!!!)  
  
***This chapter is dedicated to Tay, my former beta/editor. Tay, you are more than welcome to hang with us whenever you get the time, even if it's just to pop in and say hello. We will miss you dearly and know that our thoughts and prayers are with you, girlfriend. Hang in there, chica. We love you.***  
  
*  
  
It would be nice to write some sappy line about how the sun filtered in from the windows and hit our heroine's face in such a gentle move that caused her to awaken from her slumber. It would be nice. But it wouldn't be true.  
  
The suite they were in had thick, velvet blackout drapes. No sun was allowed in when it wasn't welcome. And since last night - after his shower, before the party - Darien had closed the drapes early because something about seeing the moon out so early was making him jumpy. That, and he was seriously dreading the jet lag that was undoubtedly going to attack him in two days time.  
  
But I digress. The only reason the blonde and her handsome raven-haired lover awoke this lovely Saturday morning was because Darien had requested wake-up calls at promptly 5:30 AM for the week. So at 5:29 and counting, the phone rang quite loudly, effectively startling the two lovers out of their happy slumber.  
  
Eyes closed, Darien automatically reached over for the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"This is your 5:30 wake-up call, Mr. Shields. Have a nice day."  
  
Before he could say goodbye, the receptionist had hung up. He shook his head and tried to hand the phone up. It banged around on the rich cherry nightstand a few times before a smaller hand landed on top of his and correctly guided it over to the cradle.  
  
"Who was that?" Serena asked, stretching languidly as she rested atop him.  
  
"My wake up call," he replied, shifting her over so his back was to the offending object and drew her closer to him.  
  
"Oh." She settled in the crook of his arm. "What time is it?"  
  
He yawned, careful to turn away from her, lest he overpower her with his morning-breath. "Who cares. We don't have to be awake right now anyway."  
  
She seemed to accept this answer and her breathing slowly deepened until he was pretty certain she'd gone back to sleep. By now, though, he was all but doomed to stay awake for the rest of the morning. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, because if there had even been a cause for sleep, it was last night and the stress of the past week. It was just that when he had a wake-up call, he couldn't fall back asleep. It was a severe character flaw, one that he needed to have removed or amended immediately.  
  
He sighed, carefully disentangling himself from her grasp and stumbled into the bathroom to wash up. As he moved on autopilot in his usual morning routine, thoughts flitted around in the distracted way they do when you've just woken up. Obviously, the situation needed to be attended to. Serena, posing as Mina still, was in his bed. She'd slept with him last night and there was no telling how many people had seen them in the elevator together and entering his room. It wasn't as if they had been quiet or anything.  
  
Darien reached for the Advil he kept in his toiletry bag and swallowed two dry. His head was pounding and the whole job of trying to keep the situation under wraps wasn't helping. He turned the shower on and waited for the water to get warm. If it had been Serena, and people had known that, the problem would simply not exist.  
  
He ducked under the hot spray and continued his thought process. But since it was supposedly *Mina*, his best friend's girl, that wasn't something they could just gloss over. He was pretty sure the rest of Rei's little crew knew that it wasn't Mina. And somewhere, in the back of his mind, he dimly realized that last night would have never happened if they didn't give their blessing. He also realized that it was the sort of thing that should have been able to happen without anyone's blessing.  
  
What he and Serena had shared had been beautiful. It seemed almost plausible to imagine waking up next to her every morning and seeing her face as the last thing before he went to sleep. But mushy frou frou thoughts didn't help the situation any and he wasn't going to start losing his head over some feelings for a woman he needed to get to know all over again.  
  
If there was thing he'd learned, it was that she'd changed from the sweet girl he'd known in Tokyo. Oh, there was still a degree of sweetness to her, and she looked about the same, but there was a tired and lost gleam in her eye hadn't been there before that worried him a bit. When they got back to America, she was moving in with him. And he was going to see to it that she got all the care she needed.  
  
* * *  
  
When the water started to run, Serena idly wondered why it was such a great hotel if the walls were so thin. Then she remembered last night and hoped that they were a bit thicker *between* rooms than they were in the room. She rolled over and would have gasped at the clock's display of 10 to six were she not so tired.  
  
Resigning herself to the inevitable, she rose from the bed and staggered over to Darien's closet. She needed coffee, but she couldn't go downstairs in a robe. Luckily, he still had her outfit from the first show and she threw that on, grabbing one of Darien's dress shirts that looked like it would fit her. It came together as a black, shirt and raw silk blue skirt. She opened the top two buttons and smiled grimly. If anyone asked. she'd glare at them.  
  
Coffee was her mission and she jotted down a note for Darien and left it on the bed before leaving the room to get into the elevator. Hopefully no one was up this early anyway. She wouldn't have been, if it hadn't been for that damn phone call.  
  
* * *  
  
Madison had had very little sleep last night. First of all, she was nursing a massive hangover. Second, she'd stayed up late to scan and email certain pictures to a certain source. Her meter had gone from bitchy to look-at-me- the-wrong-way-and-I'll-shove-it-up-your-nose-and-pull-it-out-of-your-ear bitchy. She was a woman with a mission. And she was going to get her just rewards this morning because she hadn't been playing stakeout all night for nothing.  
  
A familiar flash of blonde caught her eye and she sat up taller. "Perfect."  
  
She rose from her seat to go to the front of the hotel and purchased the Times and latest tabloids. Those tucked carefully under her arm, she made sure to get a coffee and a latte to go. Then she sat down in a cushy lounger outside the telephone stalls where Serena was and waited.  
  
* * *  
  
She'd gotten the answering machine. Of course. "Mina? Mina, if you're there, pick up?" She sighed. "Okay. Well, you're not there, so I'll just tell you. Last night. was *amazing*. Can I just say that I'm in danger of falling in love with Darien Shields? Because I am. I really, really am. Maybe he really didn't hate me all along. maybe he was just shy or something." 'Or not,' she snorted, as certain things flew into her mind from the previous several hours that cemented the fact that Darien was in no way, shape, or form, shy. About anything. "Anyway, I have to go. My flight leaves late tonight, early tomorrow, so I'll see you soon. Say hi to Andrew for me. Bye!"  
  
Serena hung up the phone and looked around to make sure no one had been listening. Good. It looked pretty deserted. She pushed open the hinged door and closed it carefully behind her, trying to avoid attention as much as possible. Just because her outfit wasn't *all* Darien's didn't mean it was inconspicuous. Hopefully people would just assume that she'd gotten drunk off her ass last night and felt the need to get into her old dress.  
  
She finally looked up from her study of the floor tiles to make sure she was headed in the right direction and noticed Madison sitting directly in her path. As if sensing her gaze, the other blonde looked up with a smile so sugary, you could have made maple syrup candy and had some to spare. Immediately, her senses kicked into red alert. She watched as the other model folded the newspaper she was reading under her arm and started heading her way.  
  
"Great," Serena mumbled, "Just what I need."  
  
The heavy clickity-clack of her shoes only served to make her headache worse and drew the attention of several early-morning patrons. "Good morning, Mina."  
  
Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. Good. No one had noticed anything off last night. "'Morning Madison. Have you been up a while?"  
  
"You have *no* idea," she murmured under her breath, smirking. "Here. I took the initiative and got you and Mr. Shields coffee. I know you must have tons of paperwork and things to go over now that the show's over." She handed off the tray with the steaming caffeine. "Oh, and here's some light reading material you might find interesting."  
  
Serena was puzzled, but never one to turn a gift of caffeine away. "Okay. Well, um, *thanks*, Madison. I really appreciate it."  
  
Madison smiled sweetly. "Oh, it was nothing. Enjoy." She started to walk away and then thought better of it, turning around to get close to Serena so no one else could hear what she was about to say. "And you should know. You were never really a choice for the company. Darien just picked you because you were on his mind. A prime example of an expensive mistake so he could get you in bed. You're the equivalent of a rent-a-date or a cheap escort. You mean *nothing to him and you never will*."  
  
She fought to keep from gaping and blinked several times to dispel her tears. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
Her opponent's eyebrow rose derisively. "The jig's up, sweetie." The twisted smirk reformed to a sickly smile. She tapped the papers, "You really should keep up with current events. You know what they say: A picture's worth a thousand words. Who knows what could be done with more than one? Ciao." And with that cryptic statement, she waltzed out of the doors and into the grime of early morning Milan.  
  
Serena, however, had to piece herself together enough to make her way to the elevator. Once inside, she leaned her head against the back of the wall and started to cry.  
  
* * *  
  
When the door opened half an hour later, Darien was hard at work on a new melody on the baby grand in the center of the room. When the show was over, he usually tooled around with a piano - one was requested to always be in his room - and worked out what was in his head. Right now, it was all a jumbled mess, but that might have had something do with the fact that he and Serena needed to talk. Hopefully her going to get coffee wasn't the earliest form of avoidance. Last night had been. beyond words. They needed to talk.  
  
"Hey." She said, closing the door behind her carefully. A tray was perched precariously on her free hand and he smiled, remembering her job at Starbucks. It was funny, he mused, what you picked up from former professions. He all but cringed, remembering when catwalks and leather pants were a way of life. He was glad for where he was today, but he wouldn't do it again if offered a billion dollars.  
  
Serena came over and set a venti traditional on the piano's lid. She walked away before he could say anything and busied herself around the room, gathering up her clothes and accessories from last night. "You'll never guess who I ran into downstairs."  
  
He eyed the coffee warily before returning his gaze to her moving form. "Who?"  
  
"Madison." She turned a classically blank smile on him, the expression in her eyes eerily indefinable. "And you'll never guess what we talked about."  
  
Now he was getting worried. Serena and Madison hated each other. Of that, there was no mistake. "What's that?"  
  
The look in her eyes changed. They were stormily dark blue as she threw the papers at him. "You shouldn't always believe what you read, Darien. unless it's true."  
  
He caught them on his chest and looked at the headlines of the New York Times. 'Star Model or Star Actress?' There were four shots in succession, the first was of Serena touching her cheek after he'd kissed her gently at the banquet table, the second was them dancing very closely, the third was of their kiss on the lower balcony and the fourth was Ami, Lita, and Rei with their hands over their mouths as they looked down from the upper veranda, presumably to their kiss.  
  
He cursed violently and looked at her to gauge her reaction. No wonder her eyes had looked puffy when she came in. Of course. She'd been crying. "I guess your secret's out, Serena. I'm sorry." He opened his arms and she willingly came into them, tilting her head up for a kiss.  
  
No one was more surprised than she was when her hand suddenly flew up and slapped him hard on the face. His hands automatically went up to his face and without the barrier, she was able to step back from him.  
  
She smiled bitterly and suddenly the churning in his stomach kicked into turbo. "I'm sorry, too. Tell me, Darien. When you hired me, was I the first on your list? Was I even on your list?" Her eyes grew to blue chips of ice. "Or was I *a mistake*?"  
  
Darien paused in the process of rubbing his cheek gingerly as his eyes shot up to meet her steely gaze. "Who-what are you talking about? Of course not." The 'who' had been a slip of the tongue and desperately wanting to stall for time, he reached for his coffee, lifting it to his lips.  
  
It spilled all over him, staining the white button-down shirt he'd put on after his shower, running straight down to discolor the light gray dress pants. This time he cursed louder, looking at her. "Serena, stop being such a child and grow up! This is not the time for one of your jokes!"  
  
Serena's eyes glinted dangerously and he knew immediately that he'd said the wrong thing. "That's what I was to you, wasn't I? I was a joke. You didn't think I would be able to cut it as a model and it was your way of getting back at me for the coffee." She started shaking her head slowly. "You did all of this so you could get me in bed - that would be the ultimate joke; the final humiliation. You sure got the last laugh this time, Darien."  
  
Now that was the last straw. "Don't give yourself that much credit! If I had wanted you in my bed, trust me, you would have been there a hell of a lot sooner."  
  
Her eyes flashed. "Is that how it is? Well don't worry about seeing me again. Because as of this moment, I quit."  
  
This was getting out of hand too fast, but he was never one to turn down a challenge and if she was going to up the stakes, he could top her out in seconds. Darien lifted his gaze to her, smirking triumphantly. "No, Serena. You signed a non-negotiable contract. You can't quit, and I can't fire you. As of this moment and for another six months, you, in essence, belong to me. And I say you're not leaving to go anywhere until we straighten this out."  
  
"You can't hold me against my will! I'll fight this, tooth and nail! I want out, Darien, and you know it!"  
  
And the power was back in his court. If he truly wanted to, he could set her free. The only clause in the contract was with his permission. He judged the calculating look in her eyes and said only, "Don't think of screwing up your catwalk runs or ruining your costumes. You're better than that and now everyone knows it."  
  
She couldn't hold it back any longer and suddenly burst into tears. "I **HATE** YOU!" Her scream echoed off the walls and seemed to almost slam into him. He didn't watch her leave and waited until he heard the click of the door before turning around.  
  
"I bet you do." He muttered softly, brushing the rose petals off the piano lid. Earlier, the maid had moved the vase and he found it odd that all the roses seemed to be wilting now. He had no idea why, and didn't care to analyze it. There was a private jet at his call and he wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight. But he was right about one thing.  
  
Oh yes. She had most certainly changed.  
  
* * *  
  
She didn't stop to go back to her room for more than a few seconds, going into the safe to get her passport and two credit cards. If there was anything she'd wanted to bring back with her, the novelty had worn off; it didn't matter now. Everything in the room, from the still assembled glass tables to the various articles of clothing would only remind her of this trip, and the show and, eventually, Darien. And that was something she didn't want.  
  
With her mind hazy, she stumbled into a pair of jeans and grabbed the most inconspicuous looking shirt she could find. There was Rei's red Coach hat resting jauntily on the couch and she snatched that too, automatically tucking her hair up inside of it.  
  
With one last glance at the room, she bit back tears and left for the airport, fully intending to hop on the first flight back to the states. and *home*.  
  
* * *  
  
"We're not going to wake her up, you two. That's mean." Ami protested, tugging on her blue robe anxiously.  
  
Rei's eyes were a fiery violet, sure sign that she was about to explode. "How do you want to explain *this*, then?" She threw the morning paper on the glass table.  
  
They were in Serena's room, waiting for her to come back, unaware that they had only just missed her. You see, elevators are tricky like that. Even trickier when the person who's running takes the stairs to miss any incoming traffic and/or nosy best friends.  
  
"I don't know," Ami hissed fiercely, "But there's got to be some way to protect her."  
  
"Hey guys." Lita called from the entryway.  
  
"Hold on," they shouted, continuing their fight.  
  
The raven-haired woman rubbed a hand on her face. "Look, I know you want to protect her Ames, because for some crazy reason, I feel the same way. But we can't hold off telling her. She could get swamped as soon as she leaves his room-and that's the only other place she could be right now, because she sure as hell isn't here!"  
  
Ami quieted, knowing her friend was right. She tapped her lips with her index finger, trying to sort out the details from last night's banquet and this morning's unavoidable news. "Something's off, Rei. There's something about this whole situation that's just not right."  
  
"Oh, gu-ys," Lita sing-songed, her lilting voice echoing in the room.  
  
They looked at each other and started walking towards her voice.  
  
"What if we call Darien and just ask him if he knows where she is? Maybe they don't know yet," Rei bargained, glancing at Ami to see how her effort to be conciliatory was going over.  
  
By the time they reached their Amazonesque friend, she was tapping her foot calmly, regarding them silently with a keen interest. No doubt, she had heard the whole argument from before - it wasn't like Rei had made an effort to hide her feelings on the matter - and she certainly must have wanted to add in her two cents.  
  
Unfortunately, this made Rei all the more tense; being scrutinized was never her thing. "WHAT?!" She finally exploded, glaring at Lita.  
  
The brunette shrugged unaffectedly and handed her a piece of paper. "Her passport and major credit cards are gone. The safe was open and this was in it."  
  
'Hey guys, if you're reading this, then you've probably figured out that I'm not here anymore. I saw the Times and. I'm sorry. I had to get out. I'm going home.  
  
--S  
  
PS- Rei, I took your hat.'  
  
"Oh my god," Rei whispered. "She really left. That means."  
  
"She had a fight with Darien," Ami supplied mournfully, figuring out the situation as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. "Because she wouldn't have left without him otherwise. Especially now, since her secret's out."  
  
A single tear fell from Lita's eye as she summed up what they were all thinking. "Crap."  
  
* * *  
  
*Stares at chapter appraisingly* 7 pages. Not marginized, size 10 font. Not too bad, eh?  
  
I'm sorry guys. I know, I know, I'm an awful person. Not only did you have to wait like, half a year for this chapter, but then they break up. What a horrible chapter to come back to, right? Well, to serve as fair warning, it's going to be tough going for a while for our favorite blonde and her handsome protector. There are some twists and turns that I even shocked my beloved beta with -- *waves to Fleur* -- and if she didn't see them coming, then that means I still have it.  
  
*dodges rocks and anvils thrown her way*  
  
For law purposes, these notes are going to be very long, so read or skim, but there's certain to be something in here for you personally. Take the time to go over it - it's not like I'm one of those author's who updates every two weeks. You may just find something important.  
  
First of all, I need to thank people. Marni, for being a great editor, and helping when she could. I know you have your own life and a family, but I appreciate all your help. Also huge thanks for Fleur, the mainstay of my sanity and for helping me sort out my jumbled thoughts in this chapter. I know I had you way confused when I started explaining it on AIM the other day, but if it weren't for you, this thing would probably still be sitting on my work menu in MS Word, just waiting to be completed. Now you know what's coming up and I expect you to keep nagging me about it until this story's finished. Big congrats to the Fleur-ster for finishing her super- cool HP story about Ron and Hermione. It's got almost 500 reviews and is chock-full of the craziness that is her muse, so if you're a Harry Potter fan, I suggest you check it out in a major way. More thanks to Tay, for realizing that certain things had to be let go so she could keep her own sanity, how ever hard it may have been for her. And of course, thanks to the readers, for sticking with me and my demented sense of updating.  
  
Now I suppose I owe you all huge, major apologies for making you wait so long. My life has been extremely hectic. The spring is always a rough time for me because the parentals do so much business. We're usually traveling a lot and being that I switched schools in January, that's only added to my problems. Plus, I was having block on this chapter for ages, so you have no idea how happy I am to have it done.  
  
Fleur said I kinda jumped back into this and I guess I did, if for no other reason than that I want to finish it. The story, having it just sit there on my hard drive; knowing that people are waiting to read it. it takes a lot out of you. It's like a ticking time bomb. (What other types of time bombs are there? Non-ticking ones?)  
  
As you can see, I'm going off on random things with is just my attempt to justify my guilt and hopefully distract you all from the real thing here, which is my lack of updates. I deserve to be severely punished for that.  
  
Anyway, what this all comes down to is this: I love reviews. I am a review- whore. Pardon my French, but it's true. I will do anything for a review. We writers aren't kidding when we say we want them and that they inspire us to work harder. If people are reading our stuff, and liking it, that is the best sort of inspiration we could ever have. Because knowing that people like and read our stories makes us work harder to keep the chapters coming. So even if it's just to say that you liked the story, or what your favorite line was in it, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW.  
  
You really don't want to make me beg - it's not so pretty.  
  
And maybe, just maybe, if you're really good and boost those reviews, then I will try my hardest to get 14 out before I leave on Friday. The chapter is pretty much planned, it's just a matter of writing it now.  
  
As always, the update list is here, waiting for more members:   
  
And we have a new message board if you're so inclined: #  
  
And if you email me at Serenity_Sea@yahoo.com, (to steal a direct line from Fleur - Remember chica, copying is the highest form of flattery!) a reply is guaranteed.  
  
At almost a page of author's notes, that's it for now! Don't forget to review!  
  
--Seren 


	20. 14: Darkness Falls

Coffee 14  
  
***If you haven't already downloaded the Alicia Keys song (Goodbye) for the last chapter, I suggest you do so now. It's used more extensively in this chapter. Sorry for the not-so-long-wait for this chapter. At least it's not like six months later. You know, some of those authors do that and. . .***  
  
* ~ *  
  
37,000 feet above the ground, safely encased in the arms of reinforced steel and soft leather recliner seats, rested our stressed out Serena Cohen.  
  
Being one of few passengers in the Business First cabin, the trip from Milan, Italy to Newark, New Jersey appeared to be a rather uneventful one. It was early, the pocket right before commuter traffic - and, incidentally, the bulk of the company from which she was trying to run - and so it was for nearly the first half of the flight that our spitfire blonde slept with her headphones on.  
  
When she finally opened her eyes about five hours later, she recognized the song on her CD player and wished she was still blissfully dead to the world. Mina must have borrowed her Discman and forgotten to take her CD out, because 'Goodbye' was on and hitting *way* too close to home.  
  
But how do I let go when I've Loved him for so long and I've Given him all that I could Was it something wrong that we did Because others infiltrated What went wrong with something once so good.  
  
Is this the end? are you sure? How should you know when you've never been here before It's so hard to just let go When this is the one and only love I've ever known.  
  
"Excuse me, Miss." Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she wiped away a stray tear to look up at the flight attendant.  
  
Vaguely, Serena remembered the woman giving her name but now that she'd conked out for such a solid amount of time, it was pretty much mush. She must have smiled or something because the next thing she knew, a glass of champagne was set before her.  
  
Too dazed to comprehend what exactly was going on, she mumbled her thanks and the ever-smiling flight attendant whispered conspiratorially, "It's from the gentleman in 4B, Ms. Cohen." She giggled, "I'd go for him myself if he hadn't been watching you since you sat down."  
  
'Well that was sort of creepy.' Serena managed a weak smile and looked over to her right. A man with closely cropped brown hair and hazel eyes was smiling at her. She lifted raised the hand with the glass in return and took a small sip.  
  
Almost immediately, she was slammed with memories of last night. Champagne had been, after all, the drink of choice. Even in her emotional stupor, she didn't want to make the nice - if somewhat weird - man upset by making faces at the drink, so she turned her head back to the window and let a few more tears slip by.  
  
Glassy, lifeless eyes stared back at her and she would have flinched if she hadn't been so busy remembering how she'd gotten in her seat in the first place.  
  
* * *  
  
The only thing running through her head as she ran from the elevators was home. She had to get home. Once she got home, everything would be okay, because everything was always better once you were in your own bed, on the right side of the Atlantic, not facing many wrong hours of jet lag.  
  
Of course, getting there was another thing entirely.  
  
Leaving the hotel as she had, in a literal whirlwind, she'd hailed a taxi and headed to the airport, placing a full-price ticket on her credit card. The soonest flight was in 15 minutes, but she didn't have luggage or a carry-on, just her purse, and her dawning publicity made it able for them to hold the plane until she got on.  
  
Then she put on headphones, collapsed into her seat, and blacked out.  
  
* * *  
  
"I couldn't help but notice, you're all alone, and looking quite sad." It was Mr. Champagne. She looked up at him, taking in the dark brown hair and hazel eyes that, for some reason, reminded her of Lita. "My name is Nick and I was wondering. are you okay?"  
  
How easy it would be to tell this man all her problems, to dump it off her shoulders and throw it on his broad, infinitely stronger ones. But she was a willful blonde with an ungodly amount of pride and refused to let herself spill her guts to a total stranger many feet above the ground.  
  
"Let's just say I'd had the week from Hell," she replied weakly. "And I want to get home and disappear for a few weeks."  
  
He gave her a sympathetic look. "I've been there. My old boss was a bitch. She practically brainwashed us to do her dirty work for her. I just got a new job last week and I feel like a new man already."  
  
Serena summoned a smile. "Career change is always a good thing." She thought of how easy it would be to disappear like she'd said and change her career, change her name, change everything.  
  
"Look, I hope this doesn't seem too forward to you, but I'm going to give you my card. It has my home and cell numbers on it, and I'd like for you to give me a call if you feel like pulling a disappearing act." He handed her a crisp, light green square. At her admiring look he said, "I didn't want it to be like everyone else's card. We live in New York, right? There's no reason why we can't be as outrageous as our city's occupants."  
  
With that, and a heartbreaking grin, Nick Reynolds left Serena alone for the rest of the flight. He seemed to vanish before she even left the plane and a corner of her brain wondered where he'd gone. Then the stewardess was handing her Rei's hat and before she knew it, she was in a cab, on her way to her apartment.  
  
* * *  
  
When they'd leveled off around 30-thousand feet, Rei broke the silence.  
  
"This feels weird."  
  
"Weird?" Lita turned her gaze from the clouds outside. "It feels more than weird. It feels. *wrong*. Extremely wrong. It's just not right. She should be with us."  
  
They watched as Ami's fingers flew over a sky-blue clam-shaped iBook and answered, without looking up, "The data concludes that this is because our flight to Milan was with her, and that not having her on the return flight seems mis-matched." She met their dull eyes with a sad look. "Of course, the computer," she closed the lid firmly, "does not have feelings, or all the answers. Serena not being with us feels like something is amiss."  
  
"Like we're missing part of our group," Rei answered for her, closing her eyes in defeat. "I just feel like we should have protected her, or something. We knew. We all knew, from the beginning, at least that something was off, and Mina wasn't herself. I blame myself for not noticing sooner. Maybe we could have covered her tracks better."  
  
"Boy, I'd like to punch that skank in the face for what she did to Serena. You know she had to get the information out of two people: Darien or the convention manager. Now, Darien. enough said. How far do you think she went with that scrawny looking guy?"  
  
"-Not far at all," Madison answered calmly, looking dangerously ready to spring. "I guess some women have it." she looked at Lita disparagingly, "and some. don't."  
  
Green fire banked in Lita's eyes and she unthinkingly reached out, not even noticing when a small spark jumped from her hand onto Madison's wrist.  
  
"Ouch!" She nearly flew back into the aisle. "That hurt!"  
  
The tall woman gave her a strange look. "I barely touched you."  
  
"No, that really *hurt*! Steward! Stewardess!" Madison looked especially annoyed when no one came her to aid.  
  
Ami grinned cheekily. "They prefer the term 'Flight Attendant,' I believe."  
  
Realizing her dramatics in the aisle were doing nothing for her side of the story and generally annoying the rest of the passengers, she shot them one last evil look and headed back to her seat.  
  
'We're *not* finished.' They all thought quietly, stunned by the depth of their fury, against this individual woman and what she'd done to their closest friend.  
  
Lita took a deep breath and rubbed her face tiredly. "I don't know what got into me, guys. But I swear--you saw--I didn't even grab her."  
  
The petite blue woman stared closely at Lita's hand and then up to her friend's eyes. "Of course not. She was just overreacting, as usual."  
  
They sat back in their silence, wanting to do something, not knowing what.  
  
Inspiration struck as Rei moved from her seat and into the aisle. They moved their legs to let her pass through and looked questioningly at her.  
  
"Let me handle this one, guys. I'm a pro." Rei smirked evilly, taking two sodas and shaking them up before placing them comically on either side of her belt, like an old western movie.  
  
The two shared grins and hastened to grab something to do so that they didn't look so guilty. When they heard the scream about 20 seconds later- Ami timed it-Lita was glad she hadn't stuck cookies in her bag.  
  
Because they were laughing so hard their sides felt like they were on fire.  
  
* * *  
  
Getting clearance to land and deboard was easy. Almost painfully so. Baggage claim and meeting the driver felt like a walk in the park. Not only had they done so a thousand of times, but the suit-clad man that held a sign with their name was the same driver as usual and as a joke to them, had written their name in big, screaming letters.  
  
"Hey, Frank." Rei said, drawing up a smile for him and ruthlessly dragging her carry on behind her. The overloaded suitcase rolled over a few tourists' feet and they yelped in protest. "Get over it," she muttered, dragging it more firmly. "Stupid speed bumps."  
  
When she walked ahead a safe distance, Frank looked at Ami. "Something wrong?"  
  
"A *lot* of somethings," Lita chimed in over his shoulder, pulling the strap on her backpack tighter. "Rei didn't sleep well on the flight home and there's something she's not telling us."  
  
"One of *those* things again?" Frank referred to the all-too-eerie situations when the girls knew when something was up, even though they hadn't actually spoken about it. The older man was something of a grandfather to them, and they confided in him as much as they could. It was nice to have someone like Frank who was removed from the business, but not so far that he wouldn't understand what was going on.  
  
"Yep," Ami sighed. "And I'm starting to get an clue of why she's so agitated right now."  
  
"Why?" Lita and Frank chimed.  
  
She stopped, pausing to look at the two carefully. "No one told Mina what's going on."  
  
* * *  
  
Speeding through four traffic lights, running five stop signs, going 65 in a 20, and putting on her best act for not one--but *two*--police officers aside, she *still* hadn't made it home in time. The lights were off when she reached the apartment and Serena's suitcase was nowhere to be seen. Whether or not that had to do with if she'd even taken a suitcase was another thing entirely.  
  
But Mina was fairly certain that, knowing her cousin as well as she did, Serena had bolted and left the girls to pick up the pieces. She hadn't left many, that was for sure. Most of the conflict was going to be kept in-house (meaning, inside the company) but it was unreasonable to consider that the media wouldn't have a field day once they got a hold of it.  
  
Being in a high-profile job for as long as she had prepared Mina for the onslaught of questions she was barraged with by a few lucky reporters that had camped outside the apartment's entrance. She waved them aside and somehow just knew that she was too late.  
  
Getting inside and seeing the darkness only confirmed it for her.  
  
Serena loved sunlight. She was, as some of her friends joked, sunlight personified. When she smiled, it lit up the space she was in. But when she was depressed. it was like a permanent cloud had overshadowed their lives. There were only a few times when this happened, but they were enough for Mina to know that she didn't want it to happen again.  
  
Hesitantly, Mina gently pushed open the door to her cousin's room and allowed herself a minute to adjust to the shadows. The curtains were pulled closed and if not for a sliver of moonlight that illuminated Serena's face, Mina would have never known she was home, much less in her room. She didn't have the heart to turn on the glaring lights and wake her up. Even in the pale light, Serena looked completely exhausted, and her eyes had caught the dried tears on her cheek.  
  
Sighing heavily, she pulled the door closed behind her and reached for the phone. "Yeah. She's home." Mina leaned her head against the wall and listened to the person on the other line. "Sleeping. I couldn't wake her up. If she feels up to explaining tomorrow, we'll talk about it. If not. then I'll wait." A rueful smile touched her lips briefly. "I know. Thanks, Rei. Goodnight."  
  
If Mina had taken a closer look in the room, if she had spared it more than the cursory glance, she would have seen the crumpled card in her cousin's hand. It was all but hidden from view, but the same sliver of moonlight that had once illuminated Serena's face, had a mind of it's own and moved to glow on the simple font on the card.  
  
Once the door had closed, the card slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor.  
  
Right next to the cordless phone.  
  
* * *  
  
It is ironic to note that the two people trying to put the most amount of distance between them, were the two who arrived back home first. They didn't give their best friends any notice or regard, just headed for their beds and crashed for the next 24 hours.  
  
Because after that, the real hell would begin. And god save us all, for a shattered blonde and equally stubborn boss were going to send their company into a tailspin.  
  
* * *  
  
I know this chapter was kind of short, but it's crucial to the plot and the little things will eventually come back to haunt us all in very strange ways.  
  
As always, the update list is here, waiting for more members: groups.yahoo.com/serenity_sea_updatelist 


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